Outside, the prince's carriage waited, drawn by two spirited black
horses caparisoned in silver; magnificent thoroughbreds, which pawed the
ground and champed their bits impatient of delay,--at sight of his
master the smart footman in attendance threw the door open, touching his
hat respectfully. We stepped in, I preceding my companion at his
expressed desire; and as I sank back among the easy cushions, I felt the
complacent consciousness of luxury and power to such an extent that it
seemed as if I had left my days of adversity already a long way behind
me. Hunger and happiness disputed my sensations between them, and I was
in that vague light-headed condition common to long fasting, in which
nothing seems absolutely tangible or real. I knew I should not properly
grasp the solid truth of my wonderful good luck till my physical needs
were satisfied and I was, so to speak, once more in a naturally balanced
bodily condition. At present my brain was in a whirl,--my thoughts were
all dim and disconnected,--and I appeared to myself to be in some
whimsical dream from which I should wake up directly. The carriage
rolled on rubber-tyred wheels and made no noise as it went,--one could
only hear the even rapid trot of the horses. By-and-by I saw in the
semi-darkness my new friend's brilliant dark eyes fixed upon me with a
curiously intent expression.
"Do you not feel the world already at your feet?" he queried half
playfully, half ironically--"Like a football, waiting to be kicked? It
is such an absurd world, you know--so easily moved. Wise men in all ages
have done their best to make it less ridiculous,--with no result,
inasmuch as it continues to prefer folly to wisdom. A football, or let
us say a shuttlecock among worlds, ready to be tossed up anyhow and
anywhere, provided the battledore be of gold!"
"You speak a trifle bitterly, prince"--I said--"But no doubt you have
had a wide experience among men?"
"I have," he returned with emphasis--"My kingdom is a vast one."
"You are a ruling power then?" I exclaimed with some
astonishment--"Yours is not a title of honour only?"
"Oh, as your rules of aristocracy go, it _is_ a mere title of
honour"--he replied quickly--"When I say that my kingdom is a vast one,
I mean that I rule wherever men obey the influence of wealth. From this
point of view, am I wrong in calling my kingdom vast?--is it not almost
boundless?"
"I perceive you are a cynic,"--I said--"Yet surely you believe that
there are some things wealth cannot buy,--honour and virtue for
example?"
He surveyed me with a whimsical smile.
"I suppose honour and virtue _do_ exist--" he answered--"And when they
are existent of course they cannot be bought. But my experience has
taught me that I can always buy everything. The sentiments called honour
and virtue by the majority of men are the most shifty things
imaginable,--set sufficient cash down, and they become bribery and
corruption in the twinkling of an eye! Curious--very curious. I confess
I found a case of unpurchaseable integrity once, but only once. I may
find it again, though I consider the chance a very doubtful one. Now to
revert to myself, pray do not imagine I am playing the humbug with you
or passing myself off under a _bogus_ title. I am a _bona-fide_ prince,
believe me, and of such descent as none of your oldest families can
boast,--but my dominions are long since broken up and my former subjects
dispersed among all nations,--anarchy, nihilism, disruption and
political troubles generally, compel me to be rather reticent concerning
my affairs. Money I fortunately have in plenty,--and with that I pave my
way. Some day when we are better acquainted, you shall know more of my
private history. I have various other names and titles besides that on
my card--but I keep to the simplest of them, because most people are
such bunglers at the pronunciation of foreign names. My intimate friends
generally drop my title, and call me Lucio simply."
"That is your christian name--?" I began.
"Not at all--I have no 'christian' name,"--he interrupted swiftly and
with anger--"There is no such thing as 'christian' in my composition!"
He spoke with such impatience that for a moment I was at a loss for a
reply. At last--
"Indeed!" I murmured vaguely.
He burst out laughing.
"'Indeed!' That is all you can find to say! Indeed and again indeed the
word 'christian' vexes me. There is no such creature alive. _You_ are
not a Christian,--no one is really,--people pretend to be,--and in so
damnable an act of feigning are more blasphemous than any fallen fiend!
Now I make no pretences of the kind,--I have only one faith--"
"And that is?"--
"A profound and awful one!" he said in thrilling tones--"And the worst
of it is that it is true,--as true as the workings of the Universe. But
of that hereafter,--it will do to talk of when we feel low-spirited and
wish to converse of things grim and ghastly,--at present here we are at
our destination, and the chief consideration of our lives, (it is the
chief consideration of most men's lives) must be the excellence or
non-excellence of our food."
The carriage stopped and we descended. At first sight of the black
horses and silver trappings, the porter of the hotel and two or three
other servants rushed out to attend upon us; but the prince passed into
the hall without noticing any of them and addressed himself to a
sober-looking individual in black, his own private valet, who came
forward to meet him with a profound salutation. I murmured something
about wishing to engage a room for myself in the hotel.
"Oh, my man will see to that for you"--he said lightly--"The house is
not full,--at anyrate all the best rooms are not taken; and of course
you want one of the best."
A staring waiter, who up to that moment, had been noting my shabby
clothes with that peculiar air of contempt commonly displayed by
insolent menials to those whom they imagine are poor, overheard these
words, and suddenly changing the derisive expression of his foxy face,
bowed obsequiously as I passed. A thrill of disgust ran through me,
mingled with a certain angry triumph,--the hypocritical reflex of this
low fellow's countenance, was, I knew, a true epitome of what I should
find similarly reflected in the manner and attitude of all 'polite'
society. For there the estimate of worth is no higher than a common
servant's estimate, and is taken solely from the money standard;--if you
are poor and dress shabbily you are thrust aside and ignored,--but if
you are rich, you may wear shabby clothes as much as you like, you are
still courted and flattered, and invited everywhere, though you may be
the greatest fool alive or the worst blackguard unhung. With vague
thoughts such as these flitting over my mind, I followed my host to his
rooms. He occupied nearly a whole wing of the hotel, having a large
drawing-room, dining-room and study _en suite_, fitted up in the most
luxurious manner, besides bedroom, bathroom, and dressing-room, with
other rooms adjoining, for his valet and two extra personal attendants.
The table was laid for supper, and glittered with the costliest glass,
silver and china, being furthermore adorned by baskets of the most
exquisite fruit and flowers, and in a few moments we were seated. The
prince's valet acted as head-waiter, and I noticed that now this man's
face, seen in the full light of the electric lamps, seemed very dark
and unpleasant, even sinister in expression,--but in the performance of
his duties he was unexceptionable, being quick, attentive, and
deferential, so much so that I inwardly reproached myself for taking an
instinctive dislike to him. His name was Amiel, and I found myself
involuntarily watching his movements, they were so noiseless,--his very
step suggesting the stealthy gliding of a cat or a tiger. He was
assisted in his work by the two other attendants who served as his
subordinates, and who were equally active and well-trained,--and
presently I found myself enjoying the choicest meal I had tasted for
many and many a long day, flavoured with such wine as connoisseurs might
be apt to dream of, but never succeed in finding. I began to feel
perfectly at my ease, and talked with freedom and confidence, the strong
attraction I had for my new friend deepening with every moment I passed
in his company.
"Will you continue your literary career now you have this little fortune
left you?" he inquired, when at the close of supper Amiel set the
choicest cognac and cigars before us, and respectfully withdrew--"Do you
think you will care to go on with it?"
"Certainly I shall"--I replied--"if only for the fun of the thing. You
see, with money I can force my name into notice whether the public like
it or not. No newspaper refuses paying advertisements."
"True!--but may not inspiration refuse to flow from a full purse and an
empty head?"
This remark provoked me not a little.
"Do you consider me empty-headed?" I asked with some vexation.
"Not at present. My dear Tempest, do not let either the Tokay we have
been drinking, or the cognac we are going to drink, speak for you in
such haste! I assure you I do not think you empty-headed,--on the
contrary, your head, I believe from what I have heard, has been and is
full of ideas,--excellent ideas, original ideas, which the world of
conventional criticism does not want. But whether these ideas will
continue to germinate in your brain, or whether, with the full purse,
they will cease, is now the question. Great originality and inspiration,
strange to say, seldom endow the millionaire. Inspiration is supposed to
come from above,--money from below! In your case however both
originality and inspiration may continue to flourish and bring forth
fruit,--I trust they may. It often happens, nevertheless that when bags
of money fall to the lot of aspiring genius, God departs and the devil
walks in. Have you never heard that?"
"Never!" I answered smiling.
"Well, of course the saying is foolish, and sounds doubly ridiculous in
this age when people believe in neither God nor devil. It implies
however that one must choose an up or a down,--genius is the Up, money
is the Down. You cannot fly and grovel at the same instant."
"The possession of money is not likely to cause a man to grovel"--I
said--"It is the one thing necessary to strengthen his soaring powers
and lift him to the greatest heights."
"You think so?" and my host lit his cigar with a grave and pre-occupied
air--"Then I'm afraid, you don't know much about what I shall call
natural psychics. What belongs to the earth tends earthwards,--surely
you realize that? Gold most strictly belongs to the earth,--you dig it
out of the ground,--you handle it and dispose of it in solid wedges or
bars--it is a substantial metal enough. Genius belongs to nobody knows
where,--you cannot dig it up or pass it on, or do anything with it
except stand and marvel--it is a rare visitant and capricious as the
wind, and generally makes sad havoc among the conventionalities of men.
It is as I said an 'upper' thing, beyond earthly smells and
savours,--and those who have it always live in unknown high latitudes.
But money is a perfectly level commodity,--level with the ground;--when
you have much of it, you come down solidly on your flat soles and down
you stay!"