Part 63 (2/2)
Sergius Thord gazed blankly at the Scene with a strange sense of being the dreaming witness of some marvellous drama enacted altogether away from the earth. He could hot yet bring himself to realise that by such a simple method as the independent working of one individual intelligence, all his own followers had been swept round to loyalty and love for a monarch, whom previously, though without knowing him, they had hated--and sworn to destroy! Yet, in very truth, all the hatreds and envys,--all the slanders and cruelties of the members of the human race towards each other, spring from ignorance; and when disaffected persons hate a king, they do so mostly because they do not know him, and because they can form no true opinion of his qualities or the various difficulties of his position. If the Anarchist, bent on the destruction of some person in authority, only had the culture and knowledge to recognise how much that person already suffers, by being in all probability forced to fulfil duties for which he has no heart or mind, he would stay his murderous hand, and pity rather than condemn. For the removal of one ruler only means the installation of another,--and the wild and often gifted souls of reformers, stumbling through darkness after some great Ideal which resolves itself into a shadow and delusion the nearer one approaches to it, need to be tenderly dealt with from the standpoint of plainest simplicity and truth,--so that they may feel the sympathetic touch of human love and care emanating from those very quarters which they seek to a.s.sail. This had been the self-imposed mission of the King who had played the part of 'Pasquin Leroy';--and thus, fearing nothing, doubting nothing, and relying simply on his own strength, discretion, and determination, he had gained a moral victory over the pa.s.sions of his secret foes such as he had never himself antic.i.p.ated. When silence was again restored, he proceeded:
”The various suggestions made in my presence during the time I have been a member of this Committee, will all be carried out. The present Government will naturally oppose every measure,--but I,--backed by such supporters as I have now won,--will elect a new Government--a new Ministry. When I began this bloodless campaign of my own, the present Ministry were on the edge of war. Determined to provoke hostilities with a peaceful Power, they were ready even with arms and ammunition, manufactured by a 'Company,' of which Perousse was the director and chief shareholder! Contracts for army supplies were being secretly tendered; and one was already secretly accepted and arranged for,--in which Carl Perousse and the Marquis de Lutera were to derive enormous interest;--the head of the concern being David Jost. This plan was concocted with devilish ingenuity,--for, if the war had actually broken out, the supplies of our army would have been of the worst possible kind, in order to give the best possible profit to the contractors; and Jost, with his newspaper influence, would have satisfied the public mind by printing constant reiterations of the completeness and excellence of the supplies, and the entire contentment and jubilation of the men! But I awoke to my responsibilities in time to checkmate this move. I forbade the provocation intended;--I stopped the war. In this matter at least--much loss of life, much heavy expenditure, and much ill-will among other nations has been happily spared to us. For the rest,--everything you have been working for shall be granted,--if you yourselves will help me to realise your own plans! I want you in your thousands!--ay, in your tens of thousands! I want you all on my side!
With you,--the representatives of the otherwise unvoiced People,--I will enforce all the measures which you have discussed before me, showing good and adequate reason why they should be carried. The taxes you complain of shall be instantly removed;--and for the more speedy replenishment of the National Exchequer, I gladly resign one half my revenues from all sources whatsoever for the s.p.a.ce of five years; or longer, if considered desirable. But I want your aid! Will you all stand by me?”
A mighty shout answered him.
”To the death!”
He turned to Thord.
”Sergius,” he said, ”my task is finished--my confession made! The next Order of this meeting must come from you!”
Thord looked at him amazedly.
”From me? Are you not the King?”
”Only so long as the People desire it!” replied the monarch gently; ”And are you not the representative of the People?”
Thord's chest heaved. Burning tears stood in his eyes. The strangeness of the situation--the deliberate coolness and resolve with which this sovereign ruler of a powerful kingdom laid his life trustingly in his hands, was too much for his nerve.
”Lotys!” he said huskily; ”Lotys!”
She rose at once and came to him, moving ghostlike in her white draperies, her eyes s.h.i.+ning--her lips tremulous.
”Lotys,” he said, ”The King is in our hands! You saved his life once--will you save it again?”
She raised her bent head, and the old courageous light flashed in her face, transfiguring its every feature.
”It is not for me to save!” she replied in clear firm tones; ”It is for you--and for all of us,--to defend!”
A ringing cheer answered her. Sergius Thord slowly advanced, and as he did so, the King, seeing his movement frankly held out his hand. For a moment the Socialist Chief hesitated--then suddenly yielding to his overpowering impulse, caught that hand and raised his dark eyes full to the monarch's face.
”You have conquered me!” he said, ”But only by your qualities as a man--not by your authority as a king! You have won my honour--my respect--my grat.i.tude--my friends.h.i.+p--and with these, so long as you are faithful to our Cause, take my allegiance! More I cannot say--more I will not promise!”
”I need no more!” responded the King cheerily, enclosing his hand in a warm clasp. ”We are friends and fellow-workers, Sergius!--we can never be rivals!”
As he spoke, his glance fell on Lotys. She shrank from the swift pa.s.sion of his gaze,--and her eyelids drooped half-swooningly over the bright star-windows of her own too ardent soul. Abruptly turning from both her and Thord, the King again addressed the company:
”One word more, my friends! It is arranged that you, with all your thousands of the People are to convene together in one great mult.i.tude, and march to the Palace to demand justice from the King. There is now no need to do this,--for the King himself is one of you!--the King only lives and reigns that justice in all respects may be done! I will therefore ask you to change your plan;--and instead of marching to the Palace, march with me to the House of Government. You would have demanded justice from the King; the King himself will go with you to demand justice for the People!”
A wild shout answered him; and he knew as he looked on the faces of his hearers that he had them all in his power as the servants of his will.
”And now, gentlemen,” he proceeded; ”I should perhaps make some excuses for my two friends, known to you as Max Graub and Axel Regor. I told you I would be responsible for their conduct, and, so far as they have been permitted to go, they have behaved well! I must, however, in justice to them, a.s.sure you that whereas I became a member of your Committee gladly, they followed my example reluctantly, and only out of fidelity and obedience to me. They have lived in the shadow of the Throne,--and have learned to pity,--and I think,--to love its occupant! Because they know,--as you have never known,--the heavy burden which a king puts on with his crown! They have, however, in their way, served you under my orders, and under my orders will continue to serve you still. Max Graub, or, to give him his right name, Heinrich von Glauben, has a high reputation in this country for his learning, apart from his position as Household Physician to our Court;--Axel Regor is my very good friend Sir Roger de Launay, who is amiable enough to support the monotony of his duty as one of my equerries in waiting. Now you know us as we are! But after all, nothing is changed, save our names and the t.i.tles we bear; we are the same men, the same friends, the same comrades!--and so I trust we shall remain!”
The cheering broke out again, and Sir Roger de Launay, who was quite as overwhelmed with astonishment at the courage and coolness of his Royal master as any Revolutionist present, joined in it with a will, as did Von Glauben.
”One favour I have to ask of you,” proceeded the King, ”and it is this: If you exempt me to-night from killing the King;” and he smiled,--”you must also exempt all the members of the Revolutionary Committee from any similar task allotted to them by having drawn the fatal Signal! Our friend, Zouche, for instance, has drawn the name of Carl Perousse. Now I want Zouche for better work than that of killing a rascal!”
Loud cheers answered him, and Zouche rising from his place advanced a little.
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