Part 66 (1/2)
A VOTE FOR LOVE
Next day it was known through the length and breadth of the city that the King, so long judged as a political Dummy, had proved himself a living, acting authority. Every journal in city and province led off its news under the one chief heading,--'The King's Speech.' The King had spoken;--and with no uncertain voice. Cool, brilliant in wording, concise in statement,--cuttingly correct in facts, convincing in argument, his unexpected denouncement of Carl Perousse, and the Perousse 'majority,' swept the Government off their feet by its daring courage, and still more daring veracity. Doc.u.mentary evidence of the dishonourable speculations with the public money which had been so freely indulged in by the Secretary of State, aided and abetted by the Premier, was handed by the King in person to the authorities whose business it was to examine such proofs,--the dishonourable measures used to retain the 'majority' were fully exposed, and the whole House stood thunderstruck and mentally paralysed, under the straight accusation and merciless condemnation launched at their own lax tolerance of such iniquitous practices, by their reigning monarch. With perfect dignity and impressive calm, the King quietly demanded whether M. Carl Perousse would be pleased to explain his actions? Whether he had anything to say in response to the charges brought against him? To this last query, after a dead silence, during which every eye was fixed on the defaulting Minister, who, in the course of the Royal speech had seen every bulwark of his own intended defence torn away from him, Perousse, with an ashy white countenance answered:
”Nothing!”
And the silence around him continued; a silence more expressive than any outspoken word of scorn.
But more surprises were in store for the Ministry, which found itself thus suddenly overthrown. The King announced the marriage of his son, the Crown Prince, to 'a daughter of the People'! Boldly, and with an ardent pa.s.sion of truth lighting up every feature of his handsome countenance, he stated this overwhelming piece of news in a perfectly matter-of-fact way, adding, that in consequence of the step taken,--a step which he did not himself in any way regret,--the Crown Prince asked to be allowed to resign the Throne in favour of his brother Rupert.
”Unless,” continued his Majesty, ”the Nation should be proved ready to accept the wife he has chosen. It is needless to add that my son has married without my consent, and this is the reason of his present absence from the country. If the Nation accepts his wife, he will return to the Nation; if not, I am bound to say, knowing his mind, that there is nothing to be done, but to declare Prince Rupert Heir to the Throne.
This, however, I personally desire may be left to the consideration and vote of the people!”
And when the House rose on that astonis.h.i.+ng afternoon, they knew they were no longer a House,--they knew the Government was entirely overthrown, and that there would be a new Ministry and a General Election. They had to realise also, that their 'Bills' for imposing fresh taxes on the people were mere waste paper,--and they heard likewise with redoubled amazement that the King had decided to resign half his revenues for the s.p.a.ce of five years, to a.s.sist the deficit in the National Exchequer.
At the conclusion of the whole unprecedented scene, they saw the King received, as it were, into the arms of a frenzied crowd, numbering many tens of thousands, which spread round all the Government buildings, and poured itself in thick streams through every street and thoroughfare, and they had to accept the fact that their 'majority' was reduced to a minority so infinitesimal, amid the greater wave of popular resolve, that it was not worth counting.
Carl Perousse, leaving the House by a private door of egress, shamed, disgraced and crestfallen as he was, dared not trust the very sight of himself to such an overwhelming mult.i.tude, and managed by lucky chance to escape un.o.bserved. He was a.s.sisted in this manoeuvre by General Bernhoff. The Chief of the Police perceived him slinking cautiously along the side-wall of an alley where the crowd had not penetrated, and helped him into a pa.s.sing cab that he might be driven rapidly and safely to his home.
”You will no doubt excuse me”--said the General with a slight smile--”for not having acted more rigorously in the matter of the suspected 'Pasquin Leroy'! I am afraid I should never have summed up sufficient impudence to ask the King to sign a warrant against himself!”
Perousse muttered an inarticulate oath by way of reply. He realised fully that the game for him was lost. His speech of defence, so carefully prepared had been useless, for he could not have uttered it in the face of the d.a.m.natory evidence against him p.r.o.nounced by the King, and verified by his own public actions. Yet his audacity had not, in the main, deserted him. He knew that, owing to his proved defalcations and fraudulent use of the public money, his own property would be confiscated to the Crown,--but he had always kept himself well prepared for emergencies, and had invested in foreign securities under various a.s.sumed names. Turning his attention to America, he felt pretty sure he could do something there,--but so far as his own country was concerned, he submitted to the inevitable, feeling that his day was done.
”The Jew is always triumphant!” he said, as he opened Jost's newspaper next morning, and read a full account of the proceedings in the House, described with all the 'colour' and gush of Jost's most melodramatic reporter. ”There is no doubt a 'leader' on my 'unhappy position' as a fallen, but once trusted Minister!”
He was right; there was! A gravely-reproachful, sternly-commiserating 'leader,' wherein the apparently impeccable and highly conscientious writer 'deplored' the laxity of those who supported M. Carl Perousse in his 'regrettable' scheme of self-aggrandis.e.m.e.nt.
”The rascal!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Perousse, as he read. ”If I ever get a fresh start in the United States or South Africa, I'll put him on a gridiron, and roast him to slow music!”
Meanwhile the whole country went mad over the King. No man was ever so idolised; no man was ever made the centre of more hero-wors.h.i.+p. In all the excitement of a General Election, the wave of loyalty rose to its extremest height, and no candidate that was not ready to follow the lines of reform laid down by the monarch, had a ghost of a chance of being returned as a deputy. With the abolition of the tax on bread, the popular jubilation increased; bonfires were lit on every hill,--rockets flared up star-like from every rocky point upon the coast, and the Nation gave itself entirely up to joy.
All the long dormant sentiment of the mult.i.tude was roused to a fever-heat by the story of Prince Humphry's marriage, and he too, next to his father, became a veritable hero of romance in the eyes of the people, for whom Love, and all pertaining to love-matters form the most interesting part of life. Following his announcement in the House, the King issued a 'manifesto,' setting forth the facts of his son's union with 'One Gloria Ronsard, of The Islands,' and requesting the vote of the people for, or against, the Prince as Heir-Apparent to the Throne.
The result of this bold and candid reliance on the Nation was one which could never have been foreseen by so-called 'diplomatic' statesmen, who are accustomed to juggle with simple facts, and who strive to cover up and conceal the too distinct plainness of truth. An electric thrill of chivalrous enthusiasm pulsated through the entire country; and the unanimous vote of the people was returned to the King in entire favour of the Crown Prince and his chosen bride. Perhaps no one was more astonished at this than the King himself. He had been prepared for considerable friction; he had been quite sure of opposition on the part of 'Society,' but, Society, moved for once from its usual selfishness by the boldness and daring of a heroic king, had ranked itself entirely on his side, and was ready and even anxious to accept in Prince Humphry a new kind of 'Cophetua,' even if he had chosen to wed a beggar-maid! And it so chanced that there were many persons who had seen Gloria,--and among these was Sergius Thord, He had not only seen her, but known her;--he had studied her character and qualities,--and was aware that she possessed one of the most pure and beautiful of womanly souls;--and though taken by surprise at the discovery that the young 'sailor' she had wedded was no other than the Crown Prince, yet, after the experience he had personally gone through with one 'Pasquin Leroy,' he could scarcely feel that any news, even of the most wonderful kind, was so wonderful after all! So that, as soon as he learned the truth, he brought all his enormous 'following' into unanimity as regarded the Prince's romantic love-story; and ere long there was not one in the metropolis at least, who did not consider the marriage a good thing, and likely to weld even more closely together the harmonious relations.h.i.+p between people and Throne.
And so it chanced, that even while the General Election was still going on all over the country, an incessant popular clamour was made for the instant return of the Prince to his native land. The papers teemed with suggestions as to the 'welcoming home' of the young hero of romance and his bride, and Professor von Glauben, mentally giddy with the whirl of events, was nevertheless triumphantly elated.
”Now that you know everything,” he said to Sir Roger de Launay, ”I hope you are satisfied! My 'jam-pot' that you spoke of, has turned out to be a special Sweetmeat for the whole nation!”
”I am very much surprised, I confess!” said Sir Roger slowly; ”I should hardly have thought such a love-story possible in these modern days.
And I should certainly never have given the nation credit for so much sentiment!”
”A nation is always sentimental!” declared the Professor; ”What does a Government exist for? Merely to keep national sentiment in order.
Ministers know well enough, that despite the various 'Bills' brought in for material advantage and improvement, they have always to deal with the imaginative aspiration of the populace, rather than their conception of logic. For truly, the ma.s.ses have no logic at all; they will not stop to count the cost of an Army, but they will shout themselves hoa.r.s.e at the sight of the Flag! The Flag is the Sentiment; the Army is the Fact. The King has secured all the votes of the nation on a question of Sentiment only,--but there is this pleasant scientific 'fact underlying the sentiment,--Gloria is fit to be the mother of kings! And that is what I will not say of any royally-born woman I know!”
Sir Roger was silent.
”Consider our present Queen as a mother only!” he went on; ”Beautiful and impa.s.sive as a snow-peak with the snow s.h.i.+ning upon it! What of her sons? The Crown Prince is the best of them,--but he has only been saved from inherited mischief by his love for Gloria. The other two boys, Rupert and Cyprian, will probably be selfish libertines!”
Sir Roger opened his eyes in astonishment.
”Why do you say that?” he asked; ”They are harmless lads enough! Cricket and football are enough to make them happy.”