A DECISIVE ACTION.
"But Cupid had him so in snare,
That this poor beggar must prepare
A salve to cure him of his care."
The activity of M. de Tricotrin soon began to make itself felt. There
was something so delightfully cynical about the political maxim upon
which he was working, that most of the prominent Kallists, whom he
sounded, embraced his idea with enthusiasm. The result was a marked and
sudden acrimony in the conduct of the campaign.
The situation was entirely new, and was discussed with all the fire and
recklessness which is the attribute of new situations everywhere.
Before, the question had always lain between the claims of the ladies
whom the respective parties supported; now it was between the claims of
the respective parties upon a lady whom they all supported. There was
something particularly invigorating in the freshness of the political
atmosphere.
As each party gradually recognised the discreditable tactics of its
opponents, feeling began to run very high. For of course the Speaker
was not chosen on his merits. It has been explained how, in this unique
country, nothing was ever done or omitted on its merits. The Speaker was
chosen on the merits of the candidate for the "Crown of Kisses." Hence
the interest which politicians of every grade displayed in her and her
relation to the principles which were supposed to guide the different
parties.
The progress of the discussion, which each day grew more heated, only
serves to show us what unprincipled politicians the Oneirians were.
Instead of attacking the real views of their opponents, as we always do,
no matter how great the danger of defeat, they were accustomed to
attribute to them views which they knew, or might easily have known,
they did not possess, and emptied their artillery furiously at the
monsters they had thus themselves created. It was a method that had
something to commend it. It was often successful. The _débris_ of these
paper giants not unfrequently smothered the hosts which were the real
object of attack, and gave the victors an ill-gotten peace till the
enemy could repeat the manoeuvre to their own advantage.
All parties were now busy on the old lines. As soon as the Agathists
recovered from the shock which the attempt on their candidate gave them,
they raised an angry scream that the whole thing was immoral, shameful,
and ridiculous. That the Kallists, who objected to virtue and only
admired beauty, should pretend to support an angel like Mlle de
Tricotrin was a piece of duplicity and presumption which no words would
adequately characterise. The Kallists replied with equal warmth,
declaring that absolute falsehood was the last thing to stand in the way
of a hypocritical Agathist when he wanted to gain his selfish ends; they
knew perfectly well that the Kallists did not object to virtue; they
admired beauty, which was a very different thing. Above all things Mlle
de Tricotrin was beautiful, the most beautiful woman that had ever
appeared in Oneiria, and it was therefore sheer nonsense to pretend that
she ought to be an Agathist candidate. It was well known that Agathists
hated beauty, and cared for nothing but virtue; and therefore for them
to set up a claim to Mlle de Tricotrin was nothing less than
unconstitutional.
The Kallikagathists as usual held a little aloof. They did not hurl
themselves into the thick of the fight. The party, it has been said,
consisted chiefly of superior persons, and was nothing if not dignified.
They listened to the clangour of the fray with lofty contempt, assuring
each other the while, with well-bred reserve, that whatever lies idiotic
politicians might tell, the true state of the case must be clear to all
plain, sensible people. At last a lady had appeared who was at once
divinely beautiful and sublimely virtuous. No amount of clamour
therefore could disguise the simple fact--and facts were strong
things--that Mlle de Tricotrin could not by any possibility be the
candidate of any party but their own.
So furiously did the battle rage that Kophetua could hardly get the
Council to pay any attention to the state of the Liberties of St.
Lazarus. Objections and insuperable difficulties they had in plenty, but
that was all. Turbo, however, fortunately adopted a different view, and
he was a host in himself. He seemed to be taking no interest whatever in
what was going on about him. To all appearances he might have been
entirely ignorant of the whole discussion, and of how serious was the
pressure which was likely to be put upon the King to induce him to
accept the hand of Mlle de Tricotrin. Perhaps, however, he had the
matter more deeply in his mind than was suspected. It was, possibly,
nothing but this which induced him to give his unqualified support to
his majesty's suggestion that, as a preliminary measure, details of the
frontier gendarmerie should be gradually concentrated in the
neighbourhood of the capital. Whatever may have been his real motive,
this policy was certainly calculated to distract the King's attention
from matrimony and Mlle de Tricotrin.
The indifference of their chief, however, in no way lessened the ardour
of the Kallist party. By the time the day came round for the usual
monthly reception at the palace, the quarrel was in full swing. The
occasion was expected with considerable excitement, for it was an open
secret that each party was going to make it the scene of a
demonstration, by which each thought to gain a march upon its
adversaries.
The Agathists especially were in a high state of elation, and not
without cause. The stroke they had prepared displayed real political
ability. The Queen-mother was of course surrounded by Agathist ladies.
Every day they had an opportunity of seeing and speaking to Mlle de
Tricotrin, for Margaret seemed unable to pass a single day without the
society of her new friend during some portion of it. Thus there was
plenty of opportunity of examining Mlle de Tricotrin's costumes
minutely, and by dint of intense application the ladies of the Queen's
circle were able to prepare for the reception a number of gowns whose
resemblance to the original model was very creditable, considering the
impediment of unsuitable materials and the difficulty which the rococo
tastes of the designers naturally had in grasping the spirit of Mlle de
Tricotrin's neo-classic style.
All was ready the day before the momentous occasion. A great strategical
advantage seemed assured to the Agathist party, when, unfortunately, the
vigilance of the Kallist intelligence department discovered the secret
by means of a corrupt maid. In the utmost consternation they flew to the
Marquis with the news. His Parisian experience of the influence of women
in politics told him at once that it was a crisis of the highest
gravity--a crisis of that transcendent nature which serves to mark out
the great from the moderate men--a crisis to which intellects like M. de
Tricotrin's are alone equal. He gravely heard the whole case, considered
for a few moments, and then it was plain that he had taken his decision.
"I presume," he said, with an air of calm resolution, "that Lady Kora
and the Count will be there." The Count was the Kallist candidate for
the chair, and Lady Kora, his daughter, was the beauty of the party. Of
course they would be there. "Very well," continued the Marquis; "request
them to be so kind as to come to my house to-morrow afternoon, and beg
them not to be at the trouble of dressing for the reception."
The deputation was satisfied. They were coming to have entire confidence
in the Marquis's generalship, and they retired with expressions of
mutual esteem. M. de Tricotrin at once went to his daughter's apartment.
As it happened, he found Penelophon laying out a beautiful gown for her
mistress's inspection.
"See, sir," cried Mlle de Tricotrin, as he entered. "There is the gown I
wear to-morrow. Is it not lovely?"
The Marquis looked at it critically. "Is that the handsomest one you
have?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," she answered. "It is the loveliest one I ever had. I have
kept it back on purpose for a time like this. I am so happy that I did."
"I am happy too, my child, for I want it."
"But it won't suit you, sir?"
"My child," said the Marquis, with Spartan severity, "this is no time
for levity. We are on the brink of a desperate crisis. It is a moment of
gravest peril, and that gown alone can save us." And then he explained
to her the whole situation, and how he had resolved that Lady Kora
should wear her most beautiful dress. Poor Mlle de Tricotrin! Like most
pretty women, and many others, she was very fond of her pretty frocks.
She had an exquisite taste in them, and had been preparing this present
one for a triumph which should outdo all her previous successes. She and
Penelophon had been thinking of little else for some days past, and her
beautiful eyes filled with tears at her bitter disappointment.
"O sir," she said, "you are always asking sacrifices of me."
"But I ask none," he answered, "that I do not make myself. I shall lend
the Count the very last suit of clothes which I had from Paris."
"But that is so different," she answered.
"I really cannot see how," said he; "but that is a matter of detail. You
have some intelligence, my child, and you must see that as long as we
can hold the balance true between the parties, they will all struggle
which is to support us most vigorously. If we once let one of them get
the upper hand, we shall immediately have an opposition. No! be brave,
be my own daughter, and fling your gown into the rising scale as I do my
plum-coloured suit. It is a sacrifice, I know, but to win a crown you
must expect greater sacrifices than this. Many have to sacrifice honour,
and even lives, to their ambition; be thankful that this is all I demand
of you--as yet."
"Take it away, Penelophon," said Mlle de Tricotrin desperately, "I
cannot bear to see it now; and yet how pretty it is! Had you told me
yesterday I would give this up, I should have said, 'No, that is
impossible; as impossible as that I should sacrifice you, child.'"
It was miserable work for both mistress and maid dressing Lady Kora on
the following afternoon. But Mlle de Tricotrin had made the sacrifice,
and had sense and determination enough to be loyal to it, and make the
most of it. She draped Lady Kora herself, and Penelophon dressed her
hair as she had been taught by her mistress. Lady Kora had pretty hair
and a pretty complexion, so she was well enough without her rouge and
powder. It made poor Mlle de Tricotrin almost break down to see how
charming she had made her look in her own best-loved gown.
But the effect on the Agathist ladies was something very much more
severe. When they assembled in the throne-room, they were in the highest
spirits. Nothing was heard but mutual congratulations on the success of
their manoeuvre, and the sour looks of the opposition. True, the
costumes were not all that they had intended. The rich satins and
flowered brocades upon which they had worked did not lend themselves
particularly well to the neo-classic treatment. The general effect was
decidedly bunchy. There was a want of softness and grace about the
folds, and some of the coiffures gave evidence of a serious want of
feeling for the style. The harmonious disorder of Mlle de Tricotrin it
was found very hard to attain. Most of the heads presented a shock of
ugly tangle, such as the Sleeping Beauty must have suffered from when
she first awoke; others had frankly given up the attempt, and, merely
abandoning their powder, had kept to their old-world design, with a
somewhat painfully incongruous effect. Still, whatever might be the
artistic verdict, politically it was an immense success, and Agathist
spirits ran high.
The Kallikagathist ladies displayed their characteristic moderation with
an increase of self-respect which, as usual, was in direct proportion
to the contempt with which it inspired their opponents. With sagacious
self-control they had given up powder, clung to their rouge, and
shortened their waists without lessening the girth of their hoop. The
compromise served well to mark their principles, but sadly spoilt their
figures.
We can imagine, then, the terrible shock which the entrance of Lady Kora
and her father created. That the Kallist candidate should outshine the
Marquis was bad enough, but that his daughter, the recognised beauty and
leader of fashion in Kallist circles, should put Mlle de Tricotrin into
the shade with her gown was simply a disaster. The more the Agathist
ladies looked at her, the more absurd and bunchy did they feel. With the
appalling conviction that they had made themselves ridiculous they tried
to hide themselves in the throng. More than one poor girl was found in
tears as she thought of her shock head, and the hateful costume she had
been compelled to wear. How could they ever recover their reputation?
The cup of the vanquished was full when the King danced a second minuet
with Lady Kora. The Marquis even began to be alarmed lest his manoeuvre
was being too successful. Still there was in any case one point gained.
In spite of Turbo, the Kallist party was openly committed to the support
of Mlle de Tricotrin. Turbo saw it plainly, and saw it without dismay.
With perfect unconcern, he had been watching while De Tricotrin
laboriously constructed his matrimonial engine. The ingenuity which the
Frenchman displayed only served to amuse him while he was waiting for
the moment to deliver the blow, which he calculated would smash the
elaborate machine to pieces. He well knew how Kophetua would see through
the whole conspiracy, and resent the pressure that was being prepared
for him. He was fully alive to the fact that the least thing would now
be enough to turn his pupil against Mlle de Tricotrin, and he laughed to
himself to think how, when the hour was come, at one stroke he would
gain all he wanted, and prevent all he did not want. It was now that the
hour had come.
"Permit me, Marquis, to make you a compliment," said Turbo, as with
engaging freedom he drew the Frenchman on to a balcony in a secluded
part of the state apartments. "Your generalship is simply consummate; I
am completely out-manoeuvred."
"My dear Chancellor," replied the Marquis in some suspicion at this
sudden surrender, "I trust you will not interpret any move that I have
made as an offensive operation against yourself."
"M. le Marquis," said Turbo, looking frankly at his rival, "let us be
perfectly open. We are each of us too old to be deceived by the other.
Each knows the other's game perfectly well. You are quite aware that as
regards your daughter's marriage with the King I am in opposition, and I
know equally well that this splendid combination--for so you must permit
me to call it--this splendid combination, which has cut my party from
under my feet, is the product of your genius and nothing else."
"Your frankness, Chancellor," replied the Marquis, with pardonable
pride, "is as charming as your compliment. I meant to thwart you, and I
think I have pretty well succeeded."
"Precisely," said Turbo, "and, while I still have a chance, I wish to
make terms with you."
"I am prepared to consider anything in reason," replied the Marquis
magnanimously.
"I am glad you take that tone," said the Chancellor, "for you see I have
a reserve which I should be very loth to use, but which I should be
compelled to use, if we failed to agree."
"Well," said the Marquis, smiling with lofty incredulity, "let me hear
your terms."
"It is merely that you should hand over to me, without reserve, your
daughter's new maid."
"My dear Chancellor, nothing would give me greater pleasure, but my
daughter would never consent to such a thing." The Marquis was an old
schemer, and at once winded a very cunning attempt to blacken his
daughter's character irrevocably in the eyes of the King.
"Are you sure?"
"Perfectly."
"Then I must take my own course."
"By all means; I am quite prepared with mine."
"Ah! you think I am so silly as to boast of forces that I do not
possess. Wait! I will be franker with you still. I will draw my weapon
and show you how bright and sharp it is."
"Really, Chancellor, you are very kind."
"Listen," hissed Turbo in his ear. "The King does not love your
daughter. He loves her maid. None but I know it. Why do you think he
used to watch the beggar-maid continually from his windows? Why did he
fetch her at the risk of his life and in disguise out of the Liberties?
Why did he place her with the most accomplished woman he knew, to be
refined and sweetened for him? Why does he sit continually before the
old picture in the library? Ha! he thought he was so cunning when he put
her with your daughter. He thought no one would guess, if she were under
the wing of the woman whom every one thinks is going to be his bride.
But I know him. I was not blinded. He means to marry the beggar-maid to
spite you all, and because he loves her. Think what his principles are!
How he would rejoice to share his throne with one of the lowest of the
people! He is a dreamer. You do not know him. He is a dreamer, and it is
a thing that has happened here before."
Turbo's infatuation for Penelophon made him believe every word he said,
and his intense earnestness was not without its effect upon the Marquis.
After his long career of intrigue, De Tricotrin was a man difficult to
deceive, and he was also a man to know when another was speaking what he
thought to be the truth.
"This is a very serious view to take of the situation, Chancellor," he
said, after a short silence. "Pardon me if I cannot adopt it at once.
There are difficulties. He did not ask my daughter to receive this girl;
it was she that chanced to offer."
"Chanced!" said Turbo scornfully. "Are you deceived by such a trick as
that? Why do you think he chose the very hour when your daughter was
with the Queen? Why, only because he knew the Queen would refuse, and
that your daughter would offer."
"True!" answered the Marquis thoughtfully, "I remember she told me the
King asked her to remain while he made his request. Are you sure you are
right in your story of this romantic abduction? Is there evidence of
it?"
"See," said Turbo, coolly bringing a paper from his pocket, "here is the
very warrant under which General Dolabella detained her till she could
be otherwise disposed of."
"But how do you come by it?"
"After execution all warrants are brought to me to file in the
archives."
"And all you ask," said the Marquis, after carefully examining the
warrant, "is the surrender of this girl? It seems a small price to pay
for your adhesion."
"Possibly, but it is not so," replied Turbo. "To begin with: I cannot
prevent the King marrying either your daughter or the beggar. I must
lose my game now, in any case. Then I have a strong fancy for this girl
myself, and ask her as the price of my not prolonging the struggle. Of
course I could manage that the King should marry her, but I should gain
nothing by it. By the present arrangement I do."
"Your position is quite clear to me now," said the Marquis.
"Then you accept my terms?"
"I do."