TRUTH ACCORDING TO THE CHANCELLOR
"Tell the truth--when desirable; spice with prevarication--when
necessary; and never part with the whole truth at one time, since
waste is sinful," was one of the maxims by which the Chancellor guided
his own actions, though he did not give it away for the benefit of
others; and he had made the most of that prudent policy to-day.
He had told his Emperor no lies, even through the telephone, where
forgetfulness may be pardonable; but he had arranged his truths as
skilfully as he arranged his pawns on a chess-board.
It was said by some who pretended to know, that Count von Breitstein
had had a Jesuit for a tutor; but be this as it might, it was certain
that, when he had a goal to reach, he did not pick his footsteps by
the way. A flower here or there was apt to be trodden down, a small
life broken, a reputation stained; but what of that when Rhaetia's
standard was to be planted upon the mountain top?
Supposing he had said to the Emperor, after his promise of plain
speaking: "Your Majesty's journey to-day is a wild goose chase. I
happen to know that those you seek are still at their hotel in
Kronburg. When I heard from my brother Egon that they were leaving
Schloss Lyndalberg suddenly and secretly, I went immediately to
Kronburg, and called upon the ladies. My intention was to frighten
them away, by telling them that the fraud was found out, and they had
better disappear decently of their own accord, unless they wished to
be assisted over the frontier. They actually dared refuse to see me,
alleging as an excuse the sudden illness of their companion, which had
prevented their leaving Kronburg as they intended. While I was
awaiting this answer, I learned that some person was telegraphing from
the railway station to the hotel manager, inquiring if the Mowbrays
had gone. I guessed this person to be your Majesty, and ventured to
use my influence strongly with the manager, so successfully that I was
permitted to dictate the reply, and obtain his promise that the
matter should be strictly confidential. I judged that your Majesty had
meant to take the Orient Express, but had missed it; and as you
telephoned from the station I had no doubt that you intended to
follow, either by the next train or by a special. Soon, I learned that
no special had been ordered by any one. I ascertained the time of the
next train, and sought your Majesty in it. Had my eloquence then
prevailed with you, I should have urged your return with me, and thus
you would have been spared the useless journey to Felgarde. As you
remained obstinately faithful, however, I considered myself fortunate
to have you out of the way, so that I could hurry back, and,
unhampered by your suspicions, set about learning still more facts to
Miss Mowbray's discredit, or inventing a few if those which
undoubtedly existed could not be unearthed in time."
Supposing that Count von Breitstein's boasted frankness had led him to
make these statements, it is probable that Rhaetia would not long have
rejoiced in a Chancellor so wise and so self-sacrificing.
It was well enough for the old man to declare his willingness to
retire, if his master desired it; but he had counted (as people who
risk all for great ends do count) on not being taken at his word. He
loved power, because he had always had it, and without power life
would not be worth the living; but it was honestly for the country's
sake, and for Leopold's sake, rather than his own, that he desired
to hold and keep his high position. Without his strong hand to seize
the helm, should Leopold's fail for some careless instant, he
conscientiously believed that the ship of state would be lost.
He had done his best to disillusion a young man tricked into love for
an adventuress. Now, neither as Chancellor nor friend could he make
further open protest, unless favored by fate with some striking new
development. There were, nevertheless, other ways of working; and he
had but taken the first step toward interference. He meant, since
worst had come to worst, to go on relentlessly; and he would hardly
have considered it criminal to destroy a woman of the type to which he
assigned Helen Mowbray, provided no means less stringent sufficed to
snatch her from the throne of Rhaetia.
There were many plans seething in the Chancellor's head, and Egon's
help might be necessary. He might even have to go so far as to bribe
Egon to kidnap the girl and sacrifice himself by marrying her out of
hand, before she had a chance to learn that the Emperor was ready to
meet her demands. Egon had been attentive to Miss Mowbray; it might
well be believed even by the Emperor, that the young man had been
madly enough in love to act upon his own initiative, uninfluenced by
his brother.
The Chancellor's first act on parting with Leopold was to telegraph
Captain von Breitstein to meet the train by which he would return to
Kronburg; therefore on arriving at the station he was not surprised to
see Egon's handsome face prominent among others less attractive, on
the crowded platform.
"Well?" questioned the young man as the old man descended.
"I'm sorry to say it is very far from well. But between us, we shall,
I hope, improve matters. You have kept yourself _au courant_ with
everything that has happened in the camp of the enemy?"
"Yes."
"Is anything stirring?"
"Say 'any one,' and I can answer you more easily. Who do you think has
arrived at the hotel?"
"The devil, probably, to complicate matters."
"I've heard him called so; but a good-looking devil, and devilishly
pleasant. I met him in his motor, in which he'd driven into town from
his new toy, the hunting lodge in--"
"What! You mean the Prince--"
"Of Darkness, you've just named him." Egon gave a laugh at his own
repartee, but the Chancellor heard neither. His hard face brightened.
"That's well," said he grimly. "Here we have just the young man to see
us through this bad pass, if he's as good looking as ever, and in his
usual mood for mischief. If we can interest him in this affair, he may
save me a great deal of trouble, and you a mésalliance."
"But your wedding present to me--" began Egon, blankly.
"Don't distress yourself. Do what you can to assist me, and whatever
the end, you shall be my heir, I promise you. Is the Prince at the
hotel now?"
"Yes. He had been to call on you at your town house, he stopped his
automobile to tell me; and hearing from me that you would be back this
evening, he decided to stay all night at the hotel, so that he could
have a chat with you after your return, no matter at what hour it
might be. I believe he has left a note at your house."
"I will go to him, and we can then discuss its contents together,"
said Count von Breitstein. And the chauffeur who drove his electric
carriage was told to go to the Hohenlangenwald Hotel.
The Prince who would, the Chancellor hoped, become the _Deus ex
machina_, was engaged in selecting the wines for his dinner, when
Count von Breitstein's card was sent in. He was pleased to say that he
would receive his visitor, and (Egon having been sent about his
business) the Chancellor was shown into the purple drawing-room of the
suite reserved for Royalty.
As he entered, a young man jumped up from an easy chair, scattering
sheaves of illustrated papers, and held out both his hands, with a
"Welcome, my dear old friend!"
It would have been vain to scour the world in quest of a handsomer
young man than this one. Even Egon von Breitstein would have seemed a
more good-looking puppet beside him, and the Chancellor rejoiced in
the physical perfection of a Prince who might prove a dangerous rival
for an absent Emperor.
"This is the best of good fortune!" exclaimed Count von Breitstein.
"Egon told me you were here, and without waiting to get the note he
said you had left for me, I came to you, straight from the railway
station."
"Splendid! And now you must dine with me. It was that I asked of you
in my note. Dinner early; a serious talk; and an antidote for
solemnity in a visit to the Leopoldhalle to see Mademoiselle Felice
from the _Folies Bergère_ do her famous Fire and Fountain dance. A
box; curtains half drawn; no one need know that the Chancellor helps
his young friend amuse himself."
"I thank your Royal Highness for the honor you suggest, and nothing
could give me greater pleasure, if I had not a suggestion to venture
in place of yours, which I believe may suit you better. I think I know
of what you wish to talk with me, and I desire the same, while the
business I have most at heart--"
"Ah, your business is my business, then?"
"I hope you may so consider it. In any case it is business which must
be carried through now or never, and is of life and death importance
to those whom it concerns. How it's to be done, or whether done at
all, may depend on you, if you consent to interest yourself; and it
could not be in more competent hands. If I'd been given my choice of
an assistant, out of the whole world, I should have chosen your Royal
Highness."
"This sounds like an adventure."
"It may be an adventure, and at the same time an act of justice."
"Good. Although it was not in search of an adventure that I came to
you, any more than it was the hope of game which brought me on a
sudden impulse to my little hunting lodge, still, I trust I have
always the instinct of a sportsman."
"I am sure of that; and I have the less hesitation in enlisting your
good-will, because it happens that your bird and mine can be killed
with one shot."
"Chancellor, you excite my curiosity."
The old man smiled genially; but under the bristling brows glowed a
flame as of the last embers in a dying fire. "Up-stairs," said he, "is
a pretty woman; a beauty. She claims the name of Helen Mowbray, though
her right to it is more than disputable. Her love affairs threaten a
public scandal."
"Ah, you are not the first one who has spoken of this pretty lady
since I crossed the frontier this morning," exclaimed the young man,
flushing. He paused and bit his lip, before going on, as if he wished
to think, or regain self-control. But at last he laughed, not
altogether lightly. "So, the lady most talked about for the moment in
all Rhaetia, is under the same roof with me."
"Fortunately, she is close at hand," said the Chancellor. "To you,
more than to any other, I can open my heart in speaking of our great
peril. This girl has drawn the Emperor into a fit of moon-madness. It
is no more serious than that, and were she out of the way, he would
wake as from a dream. But this is the moment of the crisis. He must be
saved now, or he is lost forever, and all our hopes with him. Blessed
would be the man who brought my poor master to his senses. I have
tried and failed. But you could do it."
"I?"
"The sword of justice is ready for your hand."
"That sentence has a solemn ring. I don't see what you want me to do.
But--what sort of woman is this who has bewitched your grave Leopold?"
"Beautiful, and clever, as women are clever; but not clever enough to
fight her battle out against you and me."
The Prince laughed again. "It isn't my _métier_ to fight with women. I
prefer to make love to them."
"Ah, you have said it! That is what I beg your Royal Highness to do."
"How am I to get at her, when Leopold stands guard--"
"He will not be on guard for some hours."
"Ha, ha! You mean me to understand that there's no time to waste."
"Not a moment."
"What is the girl like?"
"Tall and slender, pink and white as a flower, dark-lashed and
yellow-haired, like an Austrian beauty. Eyes gray or violet, it would
be hard to say which, for a man of my years; but even I can assure you
that when the lady looks down, then suddenly up again, under those
dark lashes, it's something to quicken the pulse of any man under
sixty."
"It would quicken mine only to hear your description, if you hadn't
just put a maggot in my head that tickles me to laughter instead of
raptures," said the Prince. "Tell me this; has this girl a tiny black
mole just over the left eyebrow--very fetching;--and when she smiles,
does her mouth point upward a bit on the right side, like a fairy
sign-post showing the way to a small round scar, almost as good as a
dimple?"
The Chancellor reflected for a few seconds, and then replied that,
unless his eyesight and his memory had deceived him, both these marks
were to be met with on Miss Mowbray's face. He did not add that he had
seen her but once, and at the time had not taken interest enough to
note details; for it was plain that the Prince had a theory as to the
lady's real identity; and to establish it as a fact might be valuable.
"Is it possible that you've already met this dangerous young person?"
he asked eagerly.
"Well, I begin to believe it may be so. I'll explain why later;
thereby hangs a confession. At all events, a certain lady exactly
answering the description you've given, is very likely in this
neighborhood; I've heard that she was shortly due in Kronburg, and it
was in my mind when deciding suddenly to spend a few days in the woods
for the sake of seeing you, that I might see her also before I went
home again. As a matter of fact, the lady and I have had a
misunderstanding, at a rather unfortunate moment, as I'd just
imprudently taken her into my confidence concerning--er--some family
affairs. If it is she who is masquerading in Rhaetia as Miss Mowbray,
and turning your Emperor's head, it may be that she's trying to
revenge herself on me. She's pretty enough to beguile St. Anthony, let
alone a St. Leopold; and she's clever enough to have thought out such
a scheme. Our small quarrel happened about four weeks ago, and I've
lost sight of the lady since; she disappeared, expecting probably to
be followed; but she wasn't. The only question is, if she's playing
Miss Mowbray, where did she get the mother? I've heard there _is_ a
Mowbray-mother?"
"There's a faded Dresden china shepherdess that answers to the name,"
said the Chancellor, dryly. "But these mantelpiece ornaments are
easily manufactured."
The Prince was amused. "No, she wouldn't stick at a mother, if she
wanted one," he chuckled. "And while she was about it, she has
apparently annexed a whole family tree. The black mole, and the
scar-dimple, you're sure of them, Chancellor? Because, if you are--"
"Oh, I am practically certain!"
"Then, the more pieces in the puzzle which I fit together, the more
likely does it seem that your Leopold's Miss Helen Mowbray and my Miss
Jenny Brett are one and the same."
"Miss Jenny Brett?"
"Did you never hear the name?"
"If I have, I've forgotten it."
"Chancellor, you wouldn't if you were a few years younger. Jenny Brett
is the prettiest if not the most talented singer ever sent out from
Australia, the fashionable home of singers. She is billed to sing at
the Court Theater of Kronburg in a fortnight, her first engagement in
Rhaetia."
"You are right. It may well be that she's been having a game with
us--a game that we can prevent now, thank Heaven, from ending in
earnest."
"Oh, yes, we can prevent that."
"Your Royal Highness met the lady in your own country?"
"N-o. It was in Paris at first, but I'm afraid I induced her to accept
an engagement at home. We were great friends for a while, and really
she's a charming creature. I can't blame myself. Who would have
guessed that she'd turn out so ambitious? By Jove, I can sympathize
with Leopold. The girl tried to twist me round her finger, and I
verily believe fancied at one time that I would offer her marriage."
"It must be the same girl. And the Emperor _has_ offered her
marriage."
"What? Impossible! But--with the left hand, of course, though even
that would be unheard of for a man in his--"
"I swear to your Royal Highness that if he isn't stopped, he will
force her on the Rhaetian people as Empress."
"Gad! Little Jenny Brett! I didn't half appreciate her brilliant
qualities."
"Yet I would wager that she appreciated yours."
The Prince shrugged his shoulders. "I believe she really cared
something for me--a month ago."
"Then she still cares. You are not a man whom a woman can forget,
though pique or ambition may lead her to try. I tell you, frankly, I
believe that Providence sent your Royal Highness here at this moment,
and my best hopes are now pinned on you. You--and no one as well as
you--can save the Emperor for a nobler fate. Even when I supposed
you a stranger to this lady who calls herself Helen Mowbray, I
thought that, if you would consent to meet her and exercise your
fascinations, there might be hope of averting the danger from my
master. Now, I hope everything. I beg, I entreat, that your Royal
Highness will send up your name and ask the lady to see you without
delay. She will certainly receive you; and when the Emperor learns
that she has done so, it may go far to disillusion him, for--pardon
me--your Royal Highness has a great reputation as a lady-killer. Still
more valuable would it be, however--indeed, he would be cured of his
infatuation forever, if--if--"
"If what?" inquired the young man, tired of the Chancellor's long
windedness and beating about the bush.
"If you could persuade her to go out to your hunting lodge. Then
Leopold and Rhaetia would be saved--by you. What could be better, what
could be more suitable?"
"What indeed?" echoed the Prince. "For every one concerned,--except
for Jenny Brett."
"Considering the havoc she has worked among us all, need she be
considered--before the interests of a great country, and--perhaps I
may hint--an innocent and lovely Royal lady, whom this girl is doing
her best to humiliate?"
"I'm hanged if she need be so considered! Anyhow, I'll do what you
ask. I'll send up my card, and then--we'll see what happens."
The Prince took from his pocket a small gold case, sparkling with
jewels--a trifle which advertised itself as the gift of a woman. Out
of this came a card, with a crown over the name in the fashion of his
country and some others. An equerry, waiting in an adjoining room, was
summoned; the card given to him; passed on to a hotel servant; and
then, for five minutes, ten minutes, the old man and the young one
waited, talking of a subject very near to both their hearts.
At last, when they had no more to say, word came that Lady Mowbray and
Miss Mowbray would see his Royal Highness.
"The value of a well regulated mother!" laughed the young man, who had
not troubled to inquire for Lady Mowbray. "Well, whatever comes of
this interview, Chancellor, I shall presently have something to tell
you."
"The suspense will be hard to bear," said Count von Breitstein, "but I
have perfect faith in you. We understand each other completely now;
but--I'm growing old, and the past few days have tried me sorely.
Remember, I pray you, all that's at stake, and do not hesitate for an
instant. Have no false scruple with such a person as this. The Emperor
will soon arrive in Kronburg. He'll lose no time in trying to find the
girl, and, once they've had another meeting, all our plans, all our
precautions, may be in vain. He searches for her, to offer his crown."
The Prince listened, and did not smile as he went out.
He had bidden the Chancellor await his return in the salon of the
Royal suite, which was always kept at his disposal, when he appeared
in the neighborhood, as he often did since purchasing the hunting
lodge a few miles out of Kronburg, in the forest.
Other foreign royalties, or lesser princes from the provinces,
occasionally occupied the apartments, also; and this handsome Royal
Highness of to-day was not the only one whom the Chancellor of Rhaetia
had visited there. He knew by heart the rich purple hangings in the
salon, with the double wolf-head of Rhaetia stamped in gold at regular
intervals on the velvet; and he sickened of their splendor now, as the
moments dragged, and he remained alone.
When half an hour had passed, he could no longer sit still on the
purple velvet sofa, but began walking up and down, his hands behind
him, scowling at the full length, oil-painted portraits of Rhaetia's
dead rulers; glaring a question into his own eyes in the long, gold
framed mirrors,--a question he would have given his life to hear
answered in the way he wished.
Three quarters of an hour had gone at last, and still the Chancellor
paced the purple drawing-room, and still the Prince did not come back
to tell the news.
Had the young man failed? Had that Siren up-stairs beguiled him, as
she had beguiled one stronger and greater than he? Was it possible
that she had lured the whole secret of their scheme from the Prince,
and then induced him to leave the hotel while her arch enemy fumed in
the salon, awaiting his return?
But no, there were quick footsteps outside the door; the handle was
turned. At least, his Royal Highness was not a traitor.
As the Chancellor had confessed, he was growing old. He felt suddenly
very weak; his lips fell apart, trembling; yet he would not utter the
words that hung upon them.
Fortunately the Prince read the appeal in the glittering eyes, and did
not wait to be questioned.
"Well, I've seen the lady and had a talk with her," he said, in a
voice which was, the old man felt, somehow different in tone from what
it had been an hour ago.
"And is she the person you have known?"
"Yes, she's a person I have known. It's--it's all right about that
plan of yours, Chancellor. She's going with me to the lodge."
"Heaven be praised! It seems almost too good to be true. When does she
go?"
"At once. That is, as soon as she can get ready. She will dine with
me, and my equerry will stop behind and eat the dinner I had ordered
here."
"Magnificent. Then she will go with you alone? Nothing could be
better. The presence of the alleged mother as chaperon would be a
drawback."
"Oh, no chaperon is needed for us two. The--er--mother remains at the
hotel with a la--a companion they have, who is ill. It was--er--somewhat
difficult to arrange this matter, but I don't think the plot I have
in mind now will fail, provided you carry through your part as smartly
as I have mine."
"You may depend upon me. Your Royal Highness is marvelous. Am I to
understand that the lady goes with you quite of her own free will?"
"Quite. I flatter myself that she's rather pleased with the
invitation. In a few minutes, I and the fair damsel will be spinning
away for a drive in my red motor; you know, the one which I always
leave at the lodge, to be ready for use whenever I choose to pay a
flying visit. I shall keep her out until it's dark, to give you plenty
of time, but before starting I'll telephone to my _chef_ that, after
all, I sha'n't be away, and he must prepare dinner for two."
"I also will send a telephone message," said the Chancellor.
"To Leopold?"
"Yes, your Royal Highness. This time there will be no uncertainty in
my words to him. They will strike home, and, even if he should not be
intending to come to Kronburg to-night, they will bring him."
"You are sure you know where to catch the Emperor?"
"He'll telephone me from Felgarde, when he has found those he sought
are not there, as he will; and I must be at my house to receive and
answer his message. It will soon be time now."
"Very well, all that seems to arrange itself satisfactorily," said the
Prince. "Our motor drive can be stretched out for an hour and a half.
The lady will then need to dress. Dinner can be kept back till half
past eight, if it would suit your book to break in upon us, at the
table. My dining-room isn't very grand, but it has plenty of light and
color, and wouldn't make a bad background for the last act of this
little drama. What do you say, Chancellor? I've always thought that
your success as a stage manager of the Theater of Nations was
partially due to your eye for dramatic effects."
"Such effects are not to be despised, considering the audience we
cater for in that theater."
"Well, I promise you that for our little amateur play to-night, in my
private theater, the footlights shall be lit, the stage set, and two
of the principal puppets dressed and painted for the show, before
nine. I suppose you can introduce the leading man by that time or a
little later?"
The bristling brows drew together involuntarily. Count von Breitstein
was working without scruple against the Emperor, for the Emperor's
good; yet he winced at his accomplice's light jest, and it was by an
effort that he kept a note of disapproval out of his voice.
"Unless I much mistake, his Majesty will order a special train, as
soon as he has had my message," said he. "That and everything else
falling as I confidently expect, I shall be able to bring him out to
your Royal Highness's hunting lodge a little after nine."
"You'll find us at the third course," prophesied the Prince.
"Naturally, the Emperor's appearance will startle your visitor," went
on the Chancellor, keenly watching the young man's extraordinarily
handsome face. "She would not dare take the risk and drive out with
you, great as the temptation would no doubt be, did she dream that he
would learn of the escapade, and follow. Indeed, your Royal Highness
must have found subtile weapons ready to your hand, that you so soon
broke through the armor of her prudence. I expected much from your
magnetism and resourceful wit, yet I hardly dared hope for such
speedy, such unqualified success as this which now seems assured to
us."
"My weapons were sharpened on my past acquaintance with the pretty
lady," explained the Prince. "Otherwise the result might have been
postponed for as many days as I have delayed moments, though at last,
the end might have been the same."
"Not for Rhaetia. Every instant counts. Thanks to you, we shall win;
for actress as this girl is, she'll find it a task beyond her powers
to justify to a jealous man this evening's tête-a-tête with you."
"If she tests those powers in our presence, we can be audience and
admire her histrionic talents," said the Prince, pleasantly, though
with some faint, growing sign of constraint or perhaps impatience.
"There's no doubt in my mind, whatever may be the lady's conception of
her part, about the final tableau. And after all, it's with that alone
you concern yourself--eh, Chancellor?"
"It's that alone," echoed the old man.
"Then you would like to go and await the message. There's nothing more
for us to arrange. _Au revoir_, Chancellor, till nine."
"Till nine."
"When the curtain for the last act will ring up."
The Prince held out his hand. Count von Breitstein grasped it, and
then hurried to his electric carriage which had been waiting outside
the hotel. A few minutes later, he was talking over the wire to the
Emperor in the railway station at Felgarde.