AN INVITATION TO COURT
The spring was now advancing into full summer, and some time had passed
since the Socialist party had gathered under their leaders to the voice
of Lotys. Troublous days appeared to be impending for the Senate, and
rumours of War,--war sometimes apparently imminent, and again suddenly
averted,--had from time to time worried the public through the Press.
But what was even more disturbing to the country, was the proposed
infliction of new, heavy and irritating taxes, which had begun to affect
the popular mind to the verge of revolt. Twice since Lotys had spoken
at the People’s Assembly Rooms had Sergius Thord addressed huge mass
meetings, which apparently the police had no orders to disperse, and his
power over the multitude was increasing by leaps and bounds. Whenever
he spoke, wherever he worked, the indefatigable Pasquin Leroy was
constantly at his side, and he, in his turn began to be recognized
by the Revolutionary Committee as one of their most energetic
members,--able, resolute, and above all, of an invaluably inscrutable
and self-contained demeanour. His two comrades were not so effectual
in their assistance, and appeared to act merely in obedience to his
instructions. Their attitude, however, suited everyone concerned as
well as, if not better than, if they had been overzealous. Owing to what
Leroy had stated concerning the possibility of his arrest as a spy,
his name was never mentioned in public by one single member of the
Brotherhood; and to the outside Socialist following, he therefore
appeared simply as one of the many who worked under Sergius Thord’s
command. Meanwhile, there were not lacking many other subjects for
popular concern and comment; all of which in their turn gave rise to
anxious discussion and vague conjecture. A Cabinet Council had been
held by the Premier, at which, without warning, the King had attended
personally, but the results were not made known to the public. Yet
the general impression was that his Majesty seemed to be perfectly
indifferent to the feelings or the well-being of his subjects; in fact,
as some of them said with dismal shakings of the head, “It was all a
part of the system; kings were not allowed to do anything even for the
benefit of their people.” And rising Socialism, ever growing stronger,
and amassing in its ranks all the youthful and ambitious intellects of
the time, agreed and swore that it was time for a Republic. Only by a
complete change of Government could the cruelly-increasing taxation
be put down; and if Government was to be changed, why not the dummy
figure-head of Government as well?
Thus Rumour talked, sometimes in whispers--sometimes in shouts;--but
through it all the life of the Court and fashion went on in the same
way,--the King continued to receive with apparent favour the most
successful and most moneyed men from all parts of the world; the Queen
drove or walked, or rode;--and the only prospective change in the social
routine was the report that the Crown Prince was about to leave the
country for a tour round the world, and that he would start on his
journey in his own yacht about the end of the month. The newspapers made
a great fuss in print over this projected tour; but the actual people
were wholly indifferent to it. They had seen very little of the Crown
Prince,--certainly not enough to give him their affection; and whether
he left the kingdom or stayed in it concerned them not at all. He had
done nothing marked or decisive in his life to show either talent,
originality of character, or resolution; and the many ‘puffs’ in the
press concerning him, were scarcely read at all by the public, or
if they were, they were not credited. The expression of an ordinary
working-man with regard to his position was entirely typical of the
general popular sentiment;--“If he would only do something to prove he
had a will of his own, and a mind, he would perhaps be able to set the
Throne more firmly on its legs than it is at present.”
How thoroughly the young man _had_ proved that he indeed possessed ‘a
will of his own,’ was not yet disclosed to the outside critics of his
life and conduct. Only the King and Queen, and Professor von Glauben
knew it;--for even Sir Roger de Launay had not been entrusted with the
story of his secret marriage. The Queen had received the news with her
usual characteristic immobility. A faint cold smile had parted her lips
as she listened to the story of her son’s romance,--and her reply to the
King’s brief explanation was almost as brief:--
“Nearly all the aristocracy marry music-hall women!” she said; “One
should therefore be grateful that a Crown Prince does not go lower in
his matrimonial choice than an innocent little peasant!”
“The marriage is useless, of course,” said the King; “It has satisfied
Humphry’s exalted notions of honour; but it can never be acknowledged or
admitted.”
“Of course not!” she agreed languidly; “It certainly clears up the
mystery of The Islands, which you were so anxious to visit;--and
I suppose the next thing you will do is to marry him again to some
daughter of a Royal house?”
“Most assuredly!”
“As _you_ were married to _me?_” she said, raising her eyes to his
face with that strange deep look which spoke eloquently of some mystery
hidden in her soul.
His cheeks burned with an involuntary flush. He bowed.
“Precisely! As I married you!” he replied.
“The experiment was hardly successful!” she said with her little cold
smile. “I fear you have often regretted it!”
He looked at her, studying her beauty intently,--and the remembrance of
another face, far less fair of feature, but warm and impassioned by the
lovely light of sympathy and tenderness, came between his eyes and hers,
like a heavenly vision.
“Had you loved me,” he said slowly, “I might never have known what it
was to need love!”
A slight tremor ran through her veins. There was a strange tone in his
voice,--a soft cadence to which she was unaccustomed,--something that
suggested a new emotion in his life, and a deeper experience.
“I never loved anyone in my life!” she answered calmly--“And now the
days are past for loving. Humphry, however, has made up for my lack of
the tender passion!”
She turned away indifferently, and appeared to dismiss the matter
altogether from her mind. The first time she saw her son, however, after
hearing of his marriage, she looked at him curiously.
“And so your wife is very lovely, Humphry!” she said with a slightly
derisive smile.
He was not startled by the suddenness of her observation nor put out by
it.
“She is the loveliest woman I have ever seen,--not excepting yourself,”
he replied.
“It is a very foolish affair!” she continued composedly; “But
fortunately in our line of life such things are easily arranged;--and
your future will not be spoiled by it. I am glad you are going abroad,
as you will very soon forget!”
The Prince regarded her steadfastly with something of grave wonderment
as well as compassion,--but he made no reply, and with the briefest
excuse left her presence as soon as possible, in order to avoid further
conversation on the subject. She, herself, however, found her mind
curiously perturbed and full of conjectures concerning her son’s idyllic
love-story, in which all considerations for her as Queen and mother
seemed omitted,--and where she, as it were, appeared to be shut outside
a lover’s paradise, the delights of which she had never experienced.
The King held many private conferences with her on the matter, in which
sometimes Professor von Glauben was permitted to share;--and the
upshot of these numerous discussions resulted in a scheme which was as
astonishing in its climax as it was unexpected. Over and over again it
has been proved to nations as well as to individuals, that the whole
course of events may be changed by the fixed determination of one
resolute mind; but it is not often that the moral force of a mere girl
succeeds in competing with the authority of kings and parliaments. But
so it chanced on this occasion, and in the following manner.
One glorious early morning, the sun having risen without a cloud in the
deep blue of the sky, and the sea being as calm as an inland lake, the
King’s yacht was seen to weigh anchor and steam away at her fullest
speed towards The Islands. Little or no preparation had been made
for her short voyage; there was no Royal party on board, and the only
passenger was Professor von Glauben. He sat solitary on deck in a
luxurious chair, smoking his meerschaum pipe, and dubiously considering
the difficult and peculiar situation in which he was placed. He made
no attempt to calculate the possible success or failure of his
mission--‘for,’ said he very sagely, ‘it all depends on a woman, and God
alone knows what a woman will do! Her ways are dark and wonderful, and
altogether beyond the limit of the comprehension of man!’
His journey was undertaken at the King’s command; and equally by the
King’s command he had been compelled to keep it a secret from Prince
Humphry. He had never been to The Islands since the King’s ‘surprise
visit’ there, and he was of course not aware that Gloria now knew the
real rank and position of her supposed ‘sailor’ husband. He was at
present charged to break the news to her, and bring her straightway to
the palace, there to confront both the King and Queen, and learn from
them the true state of affairs.
“It is a cruel ordeal,” he said, shaking his head sorrowfully; “Yet I
myself am a party to its being tried. For once in my life I have pinned
my faith on the unspoilt soul of an unworldly woman. I wonder what will
come of it? It rests entirely with Gloria herself, and with no one else
in the world!”
As the yacht arrived at its destination and dropped anchor at some
distance from the pier, owing to the shallowness of the tide at that
hour of the day, The Islands presented a fair aspect in the dancing
beams of the summer sunlight. Numbers of fruit trees were bursting into
blossom,--the apple, the cherry, the pink almond and the orange blossom
all waved together and whispered sweetness to one another in the pure
air, and the full-flowering mimosa perfumed every breath of wind.
Fishermen were grouped here and there on the shore, mending or drying
their nets; and in the fields beyond could be perceived many workers
pruning the hedges or guiding the plough. The vision of a perfect
Arcadia was presented to the eye; and so the Professor thought, as
getting into the boat lowered for him, he was rowed from the yacht to
the landing-place, and there dismissed the sailors, warning them that at
the first sound of his whistle they should swiftly come for him again.
“What a pity to spoil her peace of mind--her simplicity of life!” he
thought, as he walked at a slow and reluctant pace towards Ronsard’s
cottage; “And I fear we shall have trouble with the old man! I wonder if
his philosophy will stand hard wear and tear!”
The pretty, low timber-raftered house confronted him at the next bend in
the road, and presented a charming aspect of tranquillity. The grass in
front of it was smooth as velvet and emerald-green, and in one of the
flower borders Ronsard himself was digging and planting. He looked up as
he heard the gate open, but did not attempt to interrupt his work;--and
Von Glauben advanced towards him with a considerable sense of anxiety
and insecurity in his mind. Anon he paused in the very act of greeting,
as the old man turned his strong, deeply-furrowed countenance upon him
with a look of fierce indignation and scorn.
“So! You are here!” he said; “Have you come to look upon the evil your
Royal master has worked? Or to make dutiful obeisance to Gloria as
Crown-Princess?”
Von Glauben was altogether taken aback.
“Then--you know--?” he stammered.
“Oh yes, I know!” responded Ronsard sternly and bitterly; “I know
everything! There has been full confession! If the husband of my Gloria
were more prince than man, my knife would have slit his throat! But he
is more man than prince!--and I have let him live--for her sake!”
“Well--that is so far good!” said Von Glauben, wiping the perspiration
from his brow, and heaving a deep sigh of relief; “And as you fully
comprehend the situation, it saves me the trouble of explaining it! You
are a philosopher, Ronsard! Permit me to remind you of that fact! You
know, like myself, that what is done, even if it is done foolishly,
cannot be undone!”
“I know it! Who should know it so well as I!” and Ronsard set a delicate
rose-tree roughly in the hole he had dug for it, and began to fiercely
pile in the earth around it;--“Fate is fate, and there is no gainsaying
it! The law of Compensation will always have its way! Look you,
man!--and listen! I, Réné Ronsard, once killed a king!--and now in my
old age, the only creature I ever loved is tricked by the son of a king!
It is just! So be it!”
He bent his white head over his digging again, and Von Glauben was for
a moment silent, vaguely amazed and stupefied by this sudden declaration
of a past crime.
“You should not say ‘tricked,’ my friend!” he at last ventured to
remark; “Prince Humphry is an honest lad;--he means to keep his word!”
Ronsard looked up, his eyes gleaming with fury.
“Keep his word? Bah! How can he? Who in this wide realm will give him
the honourable liberty to keep his word? Will he acknowledge Gloria as
his wife before the nation?--she a foundling and a castaway? Will he
make her his future queen? Not he! He will forsake her, and live with
another woman, in sin which the law will sanctify!”
He went on planting the rose-tree, then,--dropping his spade,--tossed up
his head and hands with a wild gesture.
“What, and who is this God who so ordains our destiny!” he exclaimed;
“For surely this is His work,--not mine! Hidden away from all the world
with my life’s secret buried in my soul, I, without wife, or children or
friends, or any soul on earth to care whether I lived or died, was sent
an angel comforter;--the child I rescued from the sea! ‘Gloria, Gloria
in excelsis Deo!’ the choristers sang in the church when I found her! I
thought it true! With her,--in every action, in every thought and
word, I strove,--and have faithfully striven,--to atone for my past
crime;--for I was forced through others to kill that king! When proved
guilty of the deed, I was told by my associates to assume madness,--a
mere matter of acting,--and, being adjudged as insane, I was sent with
other criminals on a convict ship, bound for a certain coast-prison,
where we were all to be kept for life. The ship was wrecked off the
rocks yonder, and it was reported that every soul on board went down,
but I escaped--only I,--for what inscrutable reason God alone knows!
Finding myself saved and free, I devoted my life to hard work, and to
doing all the good I could think of to atone--to atone--always to atone!
Then the child was sent to me; and I thought it was a sign that my
penance was accepted; but no!--no!--the compensating curse falls,--not
on me,--not on me, for if only so, I would welcome it--but on Her!--the
child of my love--the heart of my heart!--on Her!”
He turned away his face, and a hard sob broke from his labouring chest.
Von Glauben laid a gentle, protective hand on his shoulder.
“Ronsard, be a man!” he said in a kind, firm voice; “This is the first
time you have told me your true history--and--I shall respect your
confidence! You have suffered much--equally you have loved much! Doubt
not that you are forgiven much. But why should you assume, or foresee
unhappiness for Gloria? Why talk of a curse where perhaps there is only
an intended blessing? Is she unhappy, that you are thus moved?”
Ronsard furtively dashed away the tears from his eyes.
“She? Gloria unhappy? No,--not yet! The delights of spring and summer
have met in her smile,--her eyes, her movements! It was she herself who
told me all! If he had told me, I would have killed him!”
“Eminently sensible!” said Von Glauben, recovering his usual phlegmatic
calm; “You would have killed the man she loves best in the world. And so
with perfect certainty you would have killed her as well,--and probably
yourself afterwards. A perfect slaughterhouse, like the last scene in
Hamlet, by the so admirable Shakespeare! It is better as it is. Life is
really very pleasant!”
He sniffed the perfumed air,--listened with appreciation to the trilling
of a bird swinging on a bough of apple-blossom above him, and began to
feel quite easy in his mind. Half his mission was done for him, Prince
Humphry having declared himself in his true colours. “I always said,”
mused the Professor, “that he was a very honest young man! And I think
he will be honest to the end.” Aloud he asked:
“When did you know the truth?”
“Some days since,” replied Ronsard. “He--Gloria’s husband--I can as yet
call him by no other name--came suddenly one evening;--the two went out
together as usual, and then--then my child returned alone. She told
me all,--of the disguise he had assumed--and of his real identity--and
I--well! I think I was mad! I know I spoke and acted like a madman!”
“Nay, rather say like a philosopher!” murmured Von Glauben with a
humorous smile; “Remember, my good fellow, that there is no human being
who loses self-control more easily and rapidly than he who proclaims the
advantage of keeping it! And what did Gloria say to you?”
Ronsard looked up at the tranquil skies, and was for a moment silent.
Then he answered.
“Gloria is--just Gloria! There is no woman like her,--there never
will be any woman like her! She said nothing at all while I raged and
swore;--she stood before me white and silent,--grand and calm, like some
great angel. Then when I cursed _him,_--she raised her hand, and like
a queen she said: ‘I forbid you to utter one word against him!’ I stood
before her mute and foolish. ‘I forbid you!’ She,--the child I reared
and nurtured--menaced me with her ‘command’ as though I were her slave
and servant! You see I have lost her!--she is not mine any more--she is
_his_--to be treated as he wills, and made the toy of his pleasure! She
does not know the world, but I know it! I know the misery that is in
store for her! But there is yet time--and I will live to avenge her
wrong!”
“Possibly there will be no wrong to avenge,” said Von Glauben
composedly; “But if there is, I have no doubt you would kill another
king!” Ronsard turned pale and shuddered. “It is stupid work, killing
kings,” went on the Professor; “It never does any good; and often
increases the evil it was intended to cure. Your studies in philosophy
must have taught you that much at least! As for your losing Gloria,--you
lost her in a sense when you gave her to her husband. It is no use
complaining now, because you find he is not the man you took him for.
The mischief is done. At any rate you are bound to admit that Gloria
has, so far, been perfectly happy; she will be happy still, I truly
believe, for she has the secret of happiness in her own beautiful
nature. And you, Ronsard, must make the best of things, and meet fate
with calmness. To-day, for instance, I am here by the King’s command,--I
bear his orders,--and I have come for Gloria. They want her at the
Palace.”
Ronsard stepped out of his flower-border, and stood on the greensward
amazed, and indignantly suspicious.
“They want her at the Palace!” he repeated; “Why? What for? To do her
harm? To make her miserable? To insult and threaten her? No, she shall
not go!”
“Look here, my friend,” said the Professor with mild patience; “You
have--for a philosopher--a most unpleasant habit of jumping to wrong
conclusions! Please endeavour to compose the tumult in your soul, and
listen to me! The King has sent for Gloria, and I am instructed to take
charge of her, and escort her to the presence of their Majesties. No
insult, no threat, no wrong is intended. I will bring her back again
safe to you immediately the audience is concluded. Be satisfied,
Ronsard! For once ‘put your trust in princes,’ for her husband will be
there,--and do you think he would suffer her to be insulted or wronged?”
Ronsard’s sunken eyes looked wild,--his aged frame trembled violently,
and he gave a hopeless gesture.
“I do not know--I do not know!” he said incoherently; “I am an old man,
and I have always found it a wicked world! But--if you give me your word
that she shall come to no harm, I will trust _you_!”
Silently Von Glauben took his hand and pressed it. Two or three minutes
passed, weighted with unuttered and unutterable thoughts in the minds of
both men; and then, in a somewhat hushed voice, the Professor said:
“Ronsard, I am just now reminded of the tragic story of Rudolf of
Austria, who killed himself through the maddening sorrow of an ill-fated
love! We, in our different lines of life should remember that,--and let
no young innocent heart suffer through our follies--our rages against
fate--our conventions--our more or less idiotic laws of restraint and
hypocrisy. The tragedy of Prince Rudolf and the unhappy Marie Vetsera
whom he worshipped, was caused by the sin and the falsehood of
others,--not by the victims of the cruel catastrophe. Therefore, I say
to you, my friend, be wise in time!--and control the natural stormy
tendency of your passions in this present affair. I assure you, on my
faith and honour as a man, that the King has a kindly heart and a brave
one,--together with a strong sense of justice. He is not truly known to
his people;--they only see him through the pens of press reporters, or
the slavish descriptions of toadies and parasites. Then again, the Crown
Prince is an honourable lad; and from what I know of him, he is not
likely to submit to conventional usages in matters which are close to
his life and heart. Gloria herself is of such an exceptional character
and disposition, that I think she may be safely left to arbitrate her
own destiny----”
“And the Queen?” interrupted Ronsard suddenly;--“She, at any rate, as a
woman, wife and mother, will be gentle?”
“Gentle, she certainly is,” said Von Glauben, with a slight sigh; “But
only because she does not consider it worth while to be otherwise! God
has put a stone in the place where her heart should be! However,--she
will have little to say, and still less to do with to-day’s business.
You tell me you will trust me; I promise you, you shall not repent your
trust! But I must see Gloria herself. Where is she?”
Ronsard pointed towards the cottage.
“She is in there, studying,” he said; “Books of the old time;--books
that few read. She gets them all from Sergius Thord. How would it be,
think you, if he knew?”
The pleasantly rubicund countenance of the Professor grew a shade paler.
“Sergius Thord--Sergius Thord?--H’m--h’m--let me see!--who is he? Ah!
I remember,--he is the Socialist lion, for ever roaring through the
streets and seeking whom he may devour! I daresay he is not without
cleverness!”
“Cleverness!” echoed Ronsard; “That is a tame word! He has genius, and
the people swear by him. Since the proposed new taxation, and other
injustices of the Government, he has gained adherents by many thousands.
You,--whom I once took to be a mere German schoolmaster, a friend of the
young ‘sailor’ whom my child so innocently wedded,--you whom I now know
to be the King’s physician--surely you cannot live on the mainland, and
in the metropolis, without knowing of the power of Sergius Thord?”
“I know something--not much;” replied the Professor guardedly; “But
come, my friend, _I_ have not deceived you! I was in very truth a poor
‘German schoolmaster,’ once,--before I became a student of medicine
and surgery. And that I am the King’s physician, is merely one of
those accidental circumstances which occur in a world of chance.
But schoolmaster as I have been, I doubt if I would set our
‘Glory-of-the-Sea’ to study books recommended to her by Sergius Thord.
The poetry of Heine is more suitable to her age and sex. Let us break
in upon her meditations.” And he walked across the grass with one arm
thrust through that of Ronsard; “For she must prepare herself. We ought
to be gone within an hour.”
They passed under the low, rose-covered porch into a wide square room,
with raftered ceiling and deep carved oak ingle nook,--and here at the
table, with a quarto volume opened out before her, sat Gloria, resting
her head on one fair hand, her rich hair falling about her in loose
shining tresses, and her whole attitude expressive of the deepest
absorption in study. As they entered, she looked up and smiled,--then
rose, her hand still resting on the open book.
“At last you have come again, dear Professor!” she said; “I began to
think you had grown weary in well-doing!”
Von Glauben stared at her, stricken speechless for a moment. What
mysterious change had passed over the girl, investing her with such an
air of regal authority? It was impossible to say. To all appearance she
was the same beautiful creature, clad in the same simple white homespun
gown,--yet were she Empress of half the habitable globe, she could
not have looked more environed with dignity, sweetness and delicately
gracious manner. He understood the desolating expression of
Ronsard,--‘You see I have lost her!--she is not mine any more--she is
his!’ He recognised and was suddenly impressed by that fact;--she
was ‘his’--the wife of the Crown Prince and Heir-Apparent to the
Throne;--and evidently with the knowledge of her position had arisen the
pride of love and the spirit of grace to support her honours worthily.
And so, as Von Glauben met her eyes, which expressed their gentle wonder
at his silence, and as she extended her hand to him, he came slowly
forward and bowing low, respectfully kissed that hand.
“Princess,” he said, in a voice that trembled ever so slightly; “I shall
never be weary in well-doing,--if you are good enough to call my
service and friendship for you by that name! I hesitated to come
before,--because I thought--I feared--I did not know!--”
“I understand!” said Gloria tranquilly; “You did not think the Prince,
my husband, would tell me the truth so soon! But I know all, and now--I
am glad to know it! Dearest,” and she moved swiftly to Ronsard who was
standing silent in the doorway--“come in and sit down! You make yourself
so tired sometimes in the garden;” and she threw a loving arm about him.
“You must rest; you look so pale!”
For all answer, he lifted the hand that hung about his neck, to his lips
and kissed it tenderly.
“They want you, Gloria!” he said tremulously; “They want you at the
Palace. You must go to-day!”
She lifted her brilliant eyes enquiringly to Von Glauben, who responded
to the look by at once explaining his mission. He was there, he said, by
the King’s special command;--their Majesties had been informed of their
son’s marriage by their son himself; and they desired at once to see
and speak with their unknown daughter-in-law. The interview would be
private; his Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be present;--it might
last an hour, perhaps longer,--and he, Von Glauben, was entrusted to
bring Gloria to the Palace, and escort her back to The Islands again
when all was over. Thus, with elaborate and detailed courtesy, the
Professor unfolded the nature of his enterprise, while Gloria, still
keeping one arm round Ronsard, heard and smiled.
“I shall obey the King’s command!” she said composedly; “Though,--having
no word from the Prince, my husband, concerning this mandate,--I might
very well refuse to do so! But it may be as well that their Majesties
and their son’s wife should plainly, and once for all, understand each
other. Dear Professor, you look sadly troubled. Is there some little
convention, some special ceremonial of so-called ‘good manners,’ which
you are commissioned to teach me, before I make my appearance at Court
under your escort?”
Her lovely lips smiled,--her eyes laughed,--she looked the very
incarnation of Beauty triumphant. Von Glauben’s brain whirled,--he felt
bewitched and dazzled.
“I?--to teach you anything? No, my princess!--and please think how
loyally I have called you ‘Princess’ from the beginning!--I have always
told you that you have a spiritual knowledge far surpassing all material
wisdom. Conventions and ceremonials are not for you,--you will make
fashion, not follow it! I am not troubled, save for your sake, dear
child!--for you know nothing of the world, and the ways of the Court may
at first offend you--”
“The ways of Hell must have seemed dark to Proserpine,” said Ronsard in
his harsh, strong voice; “But Love gave her light!”
“A very just reminder!” said Von Glauben, well pleased;--“Consider
Gloria to be the new Proserpine to-day! And now she must forgive me for
playing the part of a tyrannical friend, and urging her to hasten her
preparations.”
Gloria bent down and kissed Ronsard gently.
“Trust me, little father!” she whispered; “You have not taught me great
lessons of truth in vain!”
Aloud she said.
“The King and Queen wish to see me and speak with me,--and I know the
reason why! They desire to fully explain to me all that my husband
has already told me,--which is that according to the rules made for
monarchs, our marriage is inadmissible. Well!--I have my answer ready;
and you, Professor, shall hear me give it! Wait but a few moments and I
will come with you.”
She left the room. The two men looked at each other in silence. At last
Von Glauben said:--
“Ronsard, I think you will soon reap the reward of your
‘life-philosophy’ system! You have fed that girl from her childhood on
strong intellectual food, and trained the mental muscles rather than the
physical ones. Upon my word, I believe you will see a good result!”
Ronsard, who had grown much calmer and quieter during the last few
minutes, raised himself a little from the chair into which he had sunk
with an air of fatigue, and looked dreamily towards the open lattice
window, where the roses hung in a curtain of crimson blossom.
“If it be so, I shall praise God!” he said; “But the years have come and
gone with me so peacefully since I made my home on these quiet shores,
that the exercise of what I have presumed to call ‘philosophy’ has had
no chance. Philosophy! It is well to preach it,--but when the blow of
misfortune falls, who can practise it?”
“You can,” replied the Professor;--“I can! Gloria can! I think we all
three have clear brains. There is a tendency in the present age
to overlook and neglect the greatest power in the whole human
composition,--the mental and psychical part of it. Now, in the present
curious drama of events, we have a chance given to exercise it; and it
will be our own faults if we do not make our wills rule our destinies!”
“But the position is intolerable--impossible!” said Ronsard, rising and
pacing the room with a fresh touch of agitation. “Nothing can do away
with the fact that we--my child and I--have been cruelly deceived!
And now there can be only one of two contingencies; Gloria must be
acknowledged as the Prince’s wife,--in which case he will be forced to
resign all claim to the Throne;--or he must marry again, which makes her
no wife at all. That is a disgrace which her pride would never submit
to, nor mine;--for did I not kill a king?”
“Let me advise you for the future not to allude to that disagreeable
incident!” said Von Glauben persuasively: “Exercise discretion,--as I
do! Observe that I do not ask you what king you killed;--I am as careful
on that matter as I am concerning the reasons for which I myself left
my native Fatherland! I make it a rule never to converse on painful
subjects. You tell me you have tried to atone; then believe that the
atonement is made, and that Gloria is the sign of its acceptance,
and--happy augury!--here she comes.”
They both instinctively turned to confront the girl as she entered. She
had changed her ordinary white homespun gown for another of the same
kind, equally simple, but fresh and unworn; her glorious bronze-chestnut
hair was unbound to its full rippling length, and was held back by a
band or fillet of curiously carved white coral, which surmounted the
rich tresses somewhat in the fashion of a small crown, and she
carried, thrown over one arm, the only kind of cloak she ever wore,--a
burnous-like wrap of the same white homespun as her dress, with a hood,
which, as the Professor slowly took out his glasses and fixed them on
his nose out of mere mechanical habit, to look at her more closely, she
drew over her head and shoulders, the soft folds about her exquisite
face completing a classic picture of such radiant beauty as is seldom
seen nowadays among the increasingly imperfect and repulsive specimens
of female humanity which ‘progress’ combined with sensuality, produce
for the ‘advancement’ of the race.
“I have no Court dress,” she said smiling; “And if I had I should not
wear it! The King and Queen shall see me as my husband sees me,--what
pleases him, must suffice to please them! I am quite ready!”
Von Glauben removed the spectacles he had needlessly put on. They were
dim with a moisture which he furtively polished off, blinking his eyes
meanwhile as if the light hurt him. He was profoundly moved--thrilled
to the very core of his soul by the simplicity, frankness and courage of
this girl whose education was chiefly out of wild Nature’s lesson-book,
and who knew nothing of the artificial world of fashion.
“And I, my princess, am at your service!” he said; “Ronsard, it is but a
few hours that we shall be absent. To-night with the rising of the
moon we shall return, and I doubt not with the Prince himself as chief
escort! Keep a good heart and have faith! All will be well!”
“All _shall_ be well if Love can make it so!” said Ronsard;--“Gloria--my
child--!” He held out his wrinkled hands pathetically, unable to say
more. She sank on her knees before him, and tenderly drawing down those
hands upon her head, pressed them closely there.
“Your blessing, dearest!” she said; “Not in speech--but in thought!”
There was a moment’s sacred silence;--then Gloria rose, and throwing
her arms round the old man, the faithful protector of her infancy and
girlhood, kissed him tenderly. After that, she seemed to throw all
seriousness to the winds, and running out under the roses of the porch
made two or three light dancing steps across the lawn.
“Come!” she cried, her eyes sparkling, her face radiant with the gaiety
of her inward spirit; “Come, Professor! This is not what we call a
poet’s day of dreams,--it is a Royal day of nonsense! Come!” and here
she drew herself up with a stately air--“WE are prepared to confront the
King!”
The Professor caught the infection of her mirth, and quickly followed
her; and within the next half-hour Réné Ronsard, climbing slowly to
the summit of one of the nearest rocks on the shore adjacent to his
dwelling, shaded his eyes from the dazzling sunlight on the sea, and
strained them to watch the magnificent Royal yacht steaming swiftly over
the tranquil blue water, with one slight figure clad in white leaning
against the mast, a figure that waved its hand fondly towards The
Islands, and of whom it might have been said:
“Her gaze was glad past love’s own singing of,
And her face lovely past desire of love!”