"Your Highness to meet Steinbock alone?"
"I have no fear of him; he knows who I am."
"Everything shall be done as you wish." I secretly hoped I might have
the opportunity to punch Steinbock's head.
"Thank you." The transition of her moods always left me in wonder.
"Play something; it is impossible to talk." She perched herself on the
broad arm of the Honorable Betty's chair, and her arm rested lightly
but affectionately on her shoulder.
It was something for a man to gain the confidence, in so short a time,
of two such women. I felt as brave as Bavard. So I sat down before
the piano and played. My two accomplishments are horseback riding and
music, and I candidly tell you that I am as reckless at one as at the
other. I had a good memory. I played something from Chaminade, as her
fancies are always airy and agreeable and unmelancholy. I was
attacking _The Flatterer_ when her Highness touched my arm.
"Hark!"
We all listened intently. The sound of beating hoofs came distinctly.
A single horseman was galloping along the highway toward the castle.
The sound grew nearer and nearer; presently it ceased. I rose quietly.
"It is time I hid myself, for doubtless this rider is the man."
The princess paled for a moment, while her companion nervously plucked
at the edges of her handkerchief.
"Go," said the former; "and be watchful."
I then took up my position behind the portières. Truly I had stumbled
into an adventure; but how to stumble out again? If the duke got wind
of it, it would mean my recall, and I was of a mind, just then, that I
was going to be particularly fond of Barscheit.
All was silent. A door closed, and then came the tread of feet. I
peered through the portières shortly to see the entrance of two men,
one of whom was the old caretaker. His companion was a dark, handsome
fellow, of Hungarian gipsy type. There was a devil-may-care air about
him that fitted him well. It was Steinbock. He was dressed with
scrupulous care, in spite of the fact that he wore riding clothes. It
is possible that he recognized the importance of the event. One did
not write one's name under a princess' signature every day, even in
mockery. There was a half-smile on his face that I did not like.
"Your Highness sees that I am prompt,"--uncovering.
"It is well. Let us proceed at once to conclude the matter in hand,"
she said.
"Wholly at your service!"
(Hang the fellow's impudence! How dared he use that jovial tone?)
I heard the crackle of parchment. The certificate was being unfolded.
(It occurred to me that while she was about it the princess might just
as well have forged the rascal's name and wholly dispensed with his
services. The whole affair struck me as being ineffective; nothing
would come of it. If she tried to make the duke believe that she had
married Steinbock, her uncle would probe the matter to the bottom, and
in the end cover her with ridicule. But you can not tell a young woman
anything, when she is a princess and in the habit of having her own
way. It is remarkable how stupid clever women can be at times. The
Honorable Betty understood, but her Highness would not be convinced.
Thus she suffered this needless affront. Pardon this parenthesis, but
when one talks from behind a curtain the parenthesis is the only
available thing.) There was silence. I saw Steinbock poise the pen,
then scribble on the parchment. It was done. I stirred restlessly.
"There!" cried Steinbock. His voice did not lack a certain triumph.
"And now for the duplicate!"
Her Highness stuffed the document into the bosom of her dress. "There
will be no duplicate." The frigidity of her tones would have congealed
the blood of an ordinary rascal. But Steinbock was not ordinary.
"But suppose the duke comes to me for verification?" he reasoned.
"You will be on the other side of the frontier. Here are your thousand
crowns."
The barb of her contempt penetrated even his thick epidermis. His
smile hardened.
"I was once a gentleman; I did not always accept money for aiding in
shady transactions."
"Neither your sentiments nor your opinions are required. Now, observe
me carefully," continued her Highness. "I shall give you twenty-four
hours to cross the frontier in any direction you choose. If after that
time you are found in Barscheit, I promise to hand you over to the
police."
"It has been a great day," said the rascal, with a laugh. "A thousand
crowns!"
I separated the portières an inch. He stood at the side of the piano,
upon which he leaned an elbow. He was certainly handsome, much sought
after by women of a low class. The princess stood at Steinbock's left
and the Honorable Betty at his right, erect, their faces expressing
nothing, so forced was the repose.
"I never expected so great an honor. To wed a princess, when that
princess is your Highness! Faith, it is fine!"
"You may go at once," interrupted her Highness, her voice rising a key.
"Remember, you have only twenty-four hours between you and prison. You
waste valuable time."
"What! you wish to be rid of me so soon? Why, this is the bridal
night. One does not part with one's wife at this rate."
Leopold, the caretaker, made a warning gesture.
"Come, Leopold, I must have my jest," laughed Steinbock.
"Within certain bounds," returned the old man phlegmatically. "It is
high time you were off. You are foolhardy to match your chances with
justice. Prison stares you in the face."
"Bah! Do you believe it?"
"It is a positive fact," added the princess.
"But to leave like this has the pang of death!" Steinbock remonstrated,
"What! shall I be off without having even kissed the bride?"
"The bargain is concluded on all sides; you have your thousand crowns."
"But not love's tribute. I must have that. It is worth a thousand
crowns. Besides," with a perceptible change in his manner, "shall I
forget the contempt with which you have always looked upon me, even in
the old days that were fair and prosperous? Scarcely! Opportunity is
a thing that can not be permitted to pass thus lightly." Then I
observed his nose wrinkle; he was sniffing. "Tobacco! I did not know
that you smoked, Leopold."
"Begone!" cried the old fellow, his hands opening and shutting.
"Presently!" With a laugh he sprang toward her Highness, but Leopold
was too quick for him.
There was a short struggle, and I saw the valiant old man reel, fall
and strike his head on the stone of the hearth. He lay perfectly
motionless. So unexpected was this scene to my eyes that for a time I
was without any particular sense of movement. I stood like stone.
With an evil laugh Steinbock sprang toward her Highness again. Quick
as light she snatched up my crop, which lay on the table, and struck
the rascal full across the eyes, again and again and again, following
him as he stepped backward. Her defense was magnificent. But, as fate
determined to have it, Steinbock finally succeeded in wresting the
stick from her grasp. He was wild with pain and chagrin. It was then
I awoke to the fact that I was needed.
I rushed out, hot with anger. I caught Steinbock by the collar just in
time to prevent his lips from touching her cheek. I flung him to the
floor, and knelt upon his chest. I am ashamed to confess it, but I
recollect slapping the fellow's face as he struggled under me.
"You scoundrel!" I cried, breathing hard.
"Kill him!" whispered her Highness. She was furious; the blood of her
marauding ancestors swept over her cheeks, and if ever I saw murder in
a woman's eyes it was at that moment.
"Hush, Hildegarde, hush!" The English girl caught the princess in her
arms and drew her back. "Don't let me hear you talk like that. It is
all over."
"Get up," I said to Steinbock, as I set him free.
He crawled to his feet. He was very much disordered, and there were
livid welts on his face. He shook himself, eying me evilly. There was
murder in his eyes, too.
"Empty your pockets of those thousand crowns!"--peremptorily.
"I was certain that I smelled tobacco," he sneered. "It would seem
that there are other bridegrooms than myself."
"Those crowns, or I'll break every bone in your body!" I balled my
fists. Nothing would have pleased me better at that moment than to
pummel the life out of him.
Slowly he drew out the purse. It was one of those limp silk affairs so
much affected by our ancestors. He balanced it on his hand. Its ends
bulged with gold and bank-notes. Before I was aware of his intention,
he swung one end of it in so deft a manner that it struck me squarely
between the eyes. With a crash of glass he disappeared through the
window. The blow dazed me only for a moment, and I was hot to be on
his tracks. The Honorable Betty stopped me.
"He may shoot you!" she cried. "Don't go!"
Although half through the window, I crawled back, brushing my sleeves.
Something warm trickled down my nose.
"You have been cut!" exclaimed her Highness.
"It is nothing. I beg of you to let me follow. It will be all over
with that fellow at large."
"Not at all." Her Highness' eyes sparkled wickedly. "He will make for
the nearest frontier. He knows now that I shall not hesitate a moment
to put his affairs in the hands of the police."
"He will boast of what he has done."
"Not till he has spent those thousand crowns." She crossed the room
and knelt at the side of Leopold, dashing some water into his face.
Presently he opened his eyes. "He is only stunned. Poor Leopold!"
I helped the old man to his feet, and he rubbed the back of his head
grimly. He drew a revolver from his pocket.
"I had forgotten all about it," he said contritely. "Shall I follow
him, your Highness?"
"Let him go. It doesn't matter now. Betty, you were right, as you
always are. I have played the part of a silly fool. I _would_ have my
own way in the matter. Well, I have this worthless paper. At least I
can frighten the duke, and that is something."
"Oh, my dear, if only you would have listened to my advice!" the other
girl said. There was deep discouragement in her tones. "I warned you
so often that it would come to this end."
"Let us drop the matter entirely," said her Highness.
I gazed admiringly at her--to see her sink suddenly into a chair and
weep abandonedly! Leopold eyed her mournfully, while the English girl
rushed to her side and flung her arms around her soothingly.
"I am very unhappy," said the princess, lifting her head and shaking
the tears from her eyes. "I am harassed on all sides; I am not allowed
any will of my own. I wish I were a peasant!--Thank you, thank you!
But for you that wretch would have kissed me." She held out her hand
to me, and I bent to one knee as I kissed it. She was worthy to be the
wife of the finest fellow in all the world. I was very sorry for her,
and thought many uncomplimentary things of the duke.
"I shall not ask you to forget my weakness," she said.
"It is already forgotten, your Highness."
Under such circumstances I met the Princess Hildegarde of Barscheit;
and I never betrayed her confidence until this writing, when I have her
express permission.
Of Hermann Steinbock I never saw anything more. Thus the only villain
passes from the scene. As I have repeatedly remarked, doubtless to
your weariness, this is not my story at all; but in parenthesis I may
add that between the Honorable Betty Moore and myself there sprang up a
friendship which later ripened into something infinitely stronger.
This, then, was the state of affairs when, one month later, Max
Scharfenstein poked his handsome blond head over the frontier of
Barscheit; cue (as the dramatist would say), enter hero.