"Mother dear, don't cry, or I shall think you cannot forgive me. I will
be King, and will try to rule as my father did."
She looked up then and smiled.
"I'm crying now because I am so happy."
None of us spoke for a few minutes; perhaps we needed the time to pull
ourselves together. I did for one, then I said:
"Now that I have settled that I am going to be King, it might be
advisable for Mr. Smith to give us any information on the subject which
he thinks fit; but first I should like to know why he wished us to
remain in Rudarlia?"
He considered a little before saying:
"Because the time is at hand: Ivan is on his deathbed. You must be
there to take his place when he dies; I have everything arranged; they
trusted me to produce the King."
"And will no one think that I am an impostor?"
"I fancy not; several of us have known of your identity, they have
worked with me. There are thousands of people who will know your
mother, and there is Bauen; I do not think there are many who will deny
his testimony, once his part of the affair is known; also, you have on
your arm a mark, which will be recognised by the doctor who attended at
your birth."
"When will it be necessary for us to depart?"
"To-morrow. It was your wounding Goltz which put the finishing touch to
him; they say his rage was terrible. They told him the whole affair had
been arranged by me. He was very ill before, but that finished him."
"But to-morrow, is it absolutely essential that we should go so soon?"
"Quite, you must meet the leaders of the party as soon as possible; you
may be assured that Ivan's sycophants will not allow Prince Alexis to
remain in ignorance of his cousin's state. In all probability he will
be in Karena before us."
"If he is, we must turn him out as quickly as he came."
"We will," said Mr. Smith with emphasis.
And there we left it for the time. I took Mr. Neville away for an hour,
up to my room, where we sat by the window in the chairs which I had left
so willingly, to hear those things which I now wished unheard. We
looked out on the river, and the sight of the sparkling water brought
back to me the last afternoon I had spent in Garace, and the girl; I
sighed, and turned to my companion.
"My dear old friend," I said, "you will understand me when I tell you
that the news this afternoon has completely thrown me off my balance;
that all my plans have come down with a smash; that the idea of kingly
power has no charm for me; that I would sooner be a subaltern in the
Rudarlian army, with a frayed cap, than wear all the kingly regalia. My
life in England has taught me the joys of freedom too well; I tell you
candidly, that I fear the future. I dread it, the more so now, as in
all probability I shall have to make a marriage that will be to the
benefit of the state, and I had other dreams."
He looked at me quickly.
"Is there anyone?" he asked.