Part 56 (1/2)
”Well spoken!” said Johan Zegota, looking up from some papers which he, as secretary to the Society, had been docketing for the convenience of Thord's perusal; ”But do not forget, brave Lotys, that the very next meeting we hold is the annual one, in which we draw lots for the 'happy dispatch' of traitors and false rulers; and that this year the name of the King is among them!”
Lotys grew a shade paler, but she replied at once and dauntlessly.
”I do not forget it! But if lots are cast and traitors doomed,--it is part of our procedure to give any such doomed man six months' steady and repeated warning, that he may have time to repent of his mistakes and remedy them, so that haply he may still be spared;--and also that he may take heed to arm himself, that he do not die defenceless. Had I not saved the King, his death would have been set down to us, and our work!
Any one of you might have been accused of influencing the crazy boy who attempted the deed,--and it is quite possible our meetings would have been suppressed, and all our work fatally hindered,--if not entirely stopped. Foolish children! You should thank me, not blame me!--but you are blind children all, and cannot even see where you have been faithfully served by your faithfullest friend!”
At these words a new light appeared to break on the minds of all present--a light that was reflected in their eager and animated faces.
The knotted line of Thord's brooding brows smoothed itself gradually away.
”Was that indeed your thought, Lotys,” he asked gently, almost tenderly--”Was it for our sakes and for us alone, that you saved the King?”
At that instant Pasquin Leroy turned his eyes, which till now had been intent on watching Thord, to the other end of the table where the fine, compact woman's head, framed in its autumn-gold hair, was silhouetted against the dark background of the wall behind her like a cameo. His gaze met hers,--and a vague look of fear and pain flashed over her face, as a faint touch of colour reddened her cheeks.
”I am not accustomed to repeat my words, Sergius Thord!” she answered coldly; ”I have said my say!”
Looks were exchanged, and there was a silence.
”If we doubt Lotys, we doubt the very spirit of ourselves!” said Pasquin Leroy, his rich voice thrilling with unwonted emotion; ”Sergius--and comrades all! If you will hear me, and believe me,--you may take my word for it, she has run the risk of death for Us!--and has saved Us from false accusation, and Government interference! To wrong Lotys by so much as a thought, is to wrong the truest woman G.o.d ever made!”
A wild shout answered him,--and moved by one impulse, the whole body of men rose to their feet and drank ”to the health and honour of Lotys!”
with acclamation, many of them afterwards coming round to where she sat, and kneeling to kiss her hand and ask her pardon for their momentary doubt of her, in the excitement and enthusiasm of their souls. But Lotys herself sat very silent,--almost as silent as Sergius Thord, who, though he drank the toast, remained moody and abstracted.
When the company dispersed that night, each man present was carefully reminded by the secretary, Johan Zegota, that unless the most serious illness or misfortune intervened, every one must attend the next meeting, as it was the yearly ”Day of Fate.” Pasquin Leroy was told that his two friends, Max Graub and Axel Regor must be with him, and he willingly made himself surety for their attendance.
”But,” said he, as he gave the promise, ”what is the Day of Fate?”
Johan Zegota pointed a thin finger delicately at his heart.
”The Day of Fate,” he said, ”is the day of punishment,--or Decision of Deaths. The names of several persons who have been found guilty of treachery,--or who otherwise do injury to the people by the manner of their life and conduct, are written down on slips of paper, which are folded up and put in one receptacle, together with two or three hundred blanks. They must be all men's names,--we never make war on women.
Against some of these names,--a Red Cross is placed. Whosoever draws a name, and finds the red cross against it, is bound to kill, within six months after due warning, the man therein mentioned. If he fortunately draws a blank then he is free for a year at least,--in spite of the fatal sign,--from the unpleasant duty of despatching a fellow mortal to the next world”--and here Zegota smiled quite cheerfully; ”But if he draws a Name,--and at the same time sees the red cross against it, then he is bound by his oath to us to--_do his duty_!”
Leroy nodded, and appeared in no wise dismayed at the ominous suggestion implied.
”How if our friend Zouche were to draw the fatal sign,” he said; ”Would he perform his allotted task, think you?”
”Most thoroughly!” replied Zegota, still smiling.
And with that, they separated.
Meanwhile, during the constant change and interchange of conflicting rumours, some of which appeared to have foundation in fact, and others which rapidly dispersed themselves as fiction, there could be no doubt whatever of the growing unpopularity of the Government in power. Little by little, drop by drop, there oozed out the secrets of the ”Perousse Policy,” which was merely another name for Perousse Self-aggrandis.e.m.e.nt.
Little by little, certain facts were at first whispered, and then more loudly talked about, as to the nature of his financial speculations; and it was soon openly stated that in the formation of some of the larger companies, which were beginning to be run on the Gargantuan lines of the ”American Trust” idea, he had enormous shares,--though these ”Trusts”
had been frequently denounced as a means of enslaving the country, and ruining certain trade-interests which he was in office to protect.
Accusations began to be guardedly thrown out against him in the Senate, which he parried off with the cool and audacious skill of an expert fencer, knowing that for the immediate moment at least, he had a ”majority” under his thumb. This majority was composed of persons who had unfortunately become involved in his toils, and were, therefore, naturally afraid of him;--yet it was evident, even to a superficial student of events, that if once the innuendoes against his probity as a statesman could be veraciously proved, this sense of intimidation among his supporters would be removed, and like the props set against a decaying house, their withdrawal would result in the ruin of the building. It was pretty well known that the Marquis de Lutera had sent in his resignation, but it was not at all certain whether the King was of a mind to accept it.
Things were in abeyance,--political and social matters whirled giddily towards chaos and confusion; and the numerous hurried Cabinet Councils that were convened, boded some perturbation among the governing heads of the State. From each and all of these meetings Ministers came away more gloomy and despondent in manner,--some shook their heads sorrowfully and spoke of ”the King's folly,”--others with considerable indignation flung out sudden invectives against ”the King's insolence!”--and between the two appellations, it was not easy to measure exactly the nature of the conduct which had deserved them. For the King himself made no alteration whatever in the outward character of his daily routine; he transacted business in the morning, lunched, sometimes with his family, sometimes with friends; drove in the afternoon, and showed himself punctiliously at different theatres once or twice in the evenings of the week. The only change more observant persons began to notice in his conduct was, that he had drawn the line of demarcation very strongly between those persons who by rank and worth, and n.o.bility of life, merited his attention, and those who by mere Push and Pocket, sought to win his favour by that servile flattery and obsequiousness which are the trademarks of the plebeian and vulgarian. Quietly but firmly, he dropped the acquaintance of Jew sharks, lying in wait among the dirty pools of speculation;--with ease and absoluteness he 'let go' one by one, certain ladies of particularly elastic virtue, who fondly dreamed that they 'managed' him; and among these, to her infinite rage and despair, went Madame Vantine, wife of Vantine the winegrower, a yellow-haired, sensual ”_femelle d'homme_,” whose extravagance in clothes, and reckless indecency in conversation, combined with the King's amused notice, and the super-excellence of her husband's wines, had for a brief period made her 'the rage' among a certain set of exceedingly dissolute individuals.
In place of this kind of riff-raff of ”_nouveaux riches_,” and plutocrats, he began by degrees to form around himself a totally different _entourage_,--though he was careful to make his various changes slowly, so that they should not be too freely noticed and commented upon. Great n.o.bles, whether possessed of vast wealth and estates, or altogether landless, were summoned to take their rightful positions at the Court, where Vantine the wine-grower, and Jost the Jew, no more obtained admittance;--men of science, letters and learning, were sought out and honoured in various ways, their wives and daughters receiving special marks of the Royal attention and favour; and round the icy and statuesque beauty of the Queen soon gathered a brilliant bevy of the real world of women, not the half-world of the '_femme galante_'
which having long held sway over the Crown Prince while Heir-Apparent to the Throne, judged itself almost as a necessary, and even becoming, appendage to his larger responsibility and state as King. These excellent changes, beneficial and elevating to the social atmosphere generally, could not of course be effected without considerable trouble and heart-burning, in the directions where certain persons had received their dismissal from such favour as they had previously held at Court.