Mr. Brand was seated at the office desk, his hands clasped before him
as though in prayer. A sentry paced slowly up and down in the
corridor, another trooper stood with carbine at support upon the
balcony.
Presently Mr. Brand rose, and walked slowly across the room towards
the window, whereupon his warder turned with a startled gesture. The
prisoner saw that he was but a lad, shy and comely.
"Don't be uneasy," said Mr. Brand; "I give you my parole not to
attempt escape."
"You'd better not," remarked the sentry; "I'd like the chance of a
shot."
"Large game, eh?"
"Rather!"
"Don't you wish you were out there, fighting the rioters?"
"I don't fancy battues," drawled the trooper; "but you're game, and
in season."
"The Palace seems quite unguarded now. All the troops are gone."
"Two squadrons of the Guard are quite enough," said the sentry, "even
to hold John Brand."
"So you think I'm guilty."
"Yes, sir."
"Even before the trial?"
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Brand. But if you are guilty I hope I'll be
in the firing party."
"It is good," said the prisoner, gravely; "that the Queen has loyal
men. If the Queen finds me guilty, I shall beg you may be one of the
firing party."
"Thanks, awfully," said the sentry. "But if you don't mind, I shall
get into trouble if I'm caught talking."
"One word more. May I know your name. In case----"
"Lancaster," said the sentry.
"Lancaster," muttered the prisoner, with a slight lift of one eyebrow
as he turned back towards his chair.
"Would you like the window shut?"
"Thank you, sir," said Brand, and he fell to thinking.
Midnight was striking when he was suddenly aroused by the Queen's
presence. The flutter of her draperies, the scent of roses, the
sight of her swift grace caught at his senses. The piercing
sweetness of her seized at his heart, arrested his breath--and then
the touch of her hand upon his shoulder kept him from rising.
"Is it true?" she cried to him under her breath. "Is it true? Lord
Sydney tells me that if you had stayed in your yacht, gathered your
ships, fought the Fleet, hanged the Lord Protector----"
"And been a traitor, eh?" he continued, smiling.
"You could have conquered the world?"
"Yes, I suppose so." He rattled the handcuffs which bound his
wrists, and laughed. "Of course I could--oh, any time these ten
years past until I became the Queen's prisoner. Conquered the world?
What was the good of that?"
"And you a prisoner!"
Hurriedly she unlocked the handcuffs and released him, then as he
rose and stretched his cramped arms--
"You are my world," he laughed. "A woman's love is all the world to
a man. Do you want the earth? I'll conquer that and lay it at your
feet, if you'll only let me feel the touch of your hand again. And
now you're angry! You were just as angry the first time we met, and
the second time, and the third--you looked most glorious of all that
third time! Warn Margaret of danger and she gets furious, the
greater the peril the more royal her rage--the fighting blood all
roused before I can speak of peril. What man ever had the courage of
the Queen?"
"Oh!" she laughed, trying to rub away the sudden flush with her white
fingers. "Everything's so different now. Tell me."
"The same rose, the same thorns--I daren't!"
"Oh, please tell me."
"There's treason inside the Palace."
"Oh, surely not!"
"The Lord Protector has bribed the Captain of the Guard."
"Gloucester? Impossible!"
"He has been offered the throne."
"Oh, think of what you are saying! My own dear cousin, my friend."
"He released Prince Ali, sent him to trap me into some avowal of
treason. He was actually listening outside the door. He tried to
hand me over to Ulster."
"And that's why I found the main guard here in this room. And Prince
Ali's escape!" Margaret sank into a chair, her white lips drawn with
pain. "Guilty," she murmured. "Guilty! Oh, thank God that you are
not condemned to this throne. The lessons are so hard to learn--so
hard! The Queen must never believe in anybody, she must never even
have a friend, she must be all alone in the world. Yet,"--she looked
with troubled eyes at his face--"I must believe in some one, or go
mad. I cannot bear this solitude, this lonely state, this majesty of
pain. I'm only a poor girl robbed of all I love."
His hand stole out and rested tenderly on hers. "Poor child," he
whispered.
"Yes, I was wrong,"--her eyes were misty with tears. "Yes, I believe
in you, dear friend. When you pray will you remember Margaret?"
Oh, Hands of God, deal with her tenderly! So we prayed for Margaret
in those days, when Hands of white flame were burning the evil out of
us all, guiding us towards the end. One must be brave to follow
where God leads, patient to recognize Him in our agony, faithful to
know that pain is the Gate of Heaven.
"I will remember Margaret," said Brand; "and if you need a friend,
there is Sydney. You will trust Sydney?"
"Ulster's son!"
"Yes," he said, thinking aloud. "I doubt if there is another man now
living who would come stainless through a trial like his. To save
his country he sacrificed his own father, he threw away the
reputation of his house, his personal self-respect, his wealth, his
career, everything he valued, everything he hoped for. He struck the
first blow to save the Empire--and I know how he counted the cost.
The events of this time will never be forgotten while the earth
lasts, and when our descendants want a new proverb of manhood,
they'll swear by Sydney's honour."
"I'm glad to hear you speak like that," said Margaret.
"And when I am gone you'll depend on him for advice."
"When you have gone! You're not going to leave me!"
"Yes. Your only danger is that you shelter me. The people are on
your side, and Ulster dare not attack you."
"He sent envoys to-day." The Queen looked down at her foot, which
made little lines to and fro. "If I would only listen," she said,
"to my loyal advisers, the slanders against him could be easily
disproved. Public confidence would be restored. Parliament would
cancel the Act of Deposition, and everything would be lovely, and
please would I send Mr. Brand away."
"You promised to hand me over as I said?"
"Yes, as you said."
"You will be safe."
"But the Grand Duke Alexander has arrived. He's in the Palace now.
Oh, I'm so frightened. Don't leave me to him!"
"Keep him in the Palace, Ulster will wait, hoping for the Russian
Alliance. Russia will wait, hoping for the treaty. Keep them
waiting, keep them expectant, but sign nothing, promise nothing, and
fear nothing. I'm a prisoner for conspiracy with Prince Ali. I
escape, but that's not the fault of the Queen. I make war with the
Dictator, but he cannot blame the Queen."
"Oh, don't leave me! Don't desert me!"
"If I stay here much longer there's no hope left. Because I could
not go out to fight him, he captured Lyonesse and all my ships.
He'll have the yacht next."
"Take me away in the yacht."
"Then what becomes of the public confidence? The people would cry
that you had deserted them; they would overwhelm the Government--then
chaos! The Queen's place is here, setting an example of unflinching
courage to all her people."
"But can't you capture the Dictator, and seize the Government now?"
"With one yacht?"