Part 23 (1/2)
”There are so nearer to his coht, and there have been watchers in the street”
”Watchers? Go on, Stefan, what else?” said the Frencherly
”Aye, I saw one draw back a blind in the house opposite not an hour ago What do you make of that, Monsieur Francois?”
The ansas a sle, for a cloth had been suddenly tied across the Frenchman's mouth It was in vain that he tried to free hiainst the o; and before he had fully realized what had happened, he was bound, gagged, and lying on his back on the floor
”You'll have ample time to find out how much of a fool I am, Monsieur Francois,” said Stefan, ”for unless a miracle should happen you'll be sharp set for a meal before you leave here Never look so solemn, man; you won't die I'll send and release you as soon as it is safe to do so; and if it will save your character I'll let your master in the Altstrasse know that you did your best to carry out his instructions andyourself about presently you have my full permission to hold your mouth under any tap there in the cellar, and we'll never ask for pay the hich remained in his own tankard and also in the French the door after him
A few minutes later he walked down the street with a self-satisfied smile, a strapped-up bundle under his arm, and was soon lost to view in the lower purlieus of the city
That night seven horsely, and not all by the saate they left, they halted when they had ridden out of sight, and turned aside to reach the Breslen road The last to go was Stefan He went by the Southern Gate, and once free of the city, urged his horse forward toward the forest which lies between Breslen and Sturatzberg
CHAPTER XL
IN THE BOIS
The Bois lay without the Northern Gate The work of planting gardens and cutting carriage roads through the nearer stretches of the forest which touched the city on this side was due to Ferdinand I, whose statue stood in the Grande Place, the only useful action of which he had ever been guilty, it was said
Early in thein the Bois had inquired of one another whether the story concerning Baron Petrescu were true One had heard this, another that It hispered that the Baron had been killed in a duel by a member of the British Eain, that he had wounded his adversary and had then been nearly killed by his adversary's partisans Then one man inquired the naht, for there was a law against duelling, although it was seldom enforced The true story did not become public property, but it was presently known that the Baron's wound was a slight affair after all, and that the duel had not been fought with a member of the Embassy
Captain Ward had certainly been injured, but that was the result of an accident; they had Dr Goldberg's word for it It was then that the younger wiseacres smiled Baron Petrescu was an easy lover, and had been punished for some indiscretion Soot the better of the master of fence No wonder the Baron wished to keep the matter quiet Lord Cloverton knew the true story Captain Ward had sent to hiot him home, and the Ambassador shut himself in his room to consider his course of action After his failure to entrap Queen Elena last night, and the King's anger consequent upon his accusation, his position was an extremely difficult one The Queen had outwitted him, but the fact re thisHe had ascertained this fact There was no doubt that Ellerey had soht have already left the city on his ed at the last h the Queen, but the interests at stake demanded instant action, and another ain apologized for the mistake his zeal had led him into Her Majesty had, of course, proved how innocent her audience with Captain Ellerey had been, but the fact re spirit in a rebellion
The sooner means were taken to obtain possession of his person the better In this ers galloped hastily through the city froht had been a sleepless one for Frina Mavrodin Fro the stairs, her thoughts had been fixed in one channel She knew the Baron's reputation as a swordsman, and her heart ith the man who had met his insult with so swift a demand for retribution The cause to which she was attached, for which she was prepared to squander her wealth, to give her life even were that necessary, had colish her woainst his brusqueness, and his resourcefulness and calether forgotten so with him He was not as other men, quick with a compliment, ever ready to please Not a word of love had he spoken to her, yet his eyes had always sought her first in the throng, whether it were in the Bois or at Court, and, having found her, he looked no further If she indulged in dreah, but taking no distinct shape, de had come when Princess Maritza had spoken of hi underneath her words As a Princess, Maritza had watched the ht prove useful to her cause; but as a woman she had also re, and had treasured them in her heart Only with this discovery had Frina Mavrodin become fully conscious of all Captain Ellerey's coates were suddenly opened, and the rushi+ng torrent of her eht of the cause she had worked for, and loved, and believed in Aler questions, and the blood mounted to her cheeks as she remembered Hoould he have answered her had he not been su at the open , looking at the heavy clouds which presently obscured the ht of restless anxiety Somewhere, perhaps very near her, the ht, calhtless eyes toward the co
It came at last, and with her eyes bathed to reil, she went as usual to breakfast with the Princess, as always an early riser Since the night they had spoken of Captain Ellerey there had arisen a subtle difference in their relations toward each other It hardly amounted to restraint, but the Countess was more reserved, and the Princess talked little of her hopes and plans Sheher companion into her confidence, but told her less For this difference, perhaps, Frina was chiefly responsible
Maritza felt that she had grown lukewarm, not to her personally, but toward the cause which took so few and such trifling steps toward its end She did not wonder at it No day passed in which she herself had not a period of despair, a passionate longing to drive things to a speedy conclusion, though the end brought failure To her, her cause was paramount, and she would not allow herself to think of Desmond Ellerey apart from it; yet when Frina had in aon the downs, every hue of land and sky, every sound that had sung in her ears, every perfume the air held, and the centre of all was this man, who seemed then to be her possession He had cogestion surely, and she had a right to his allegiance It was a woument, and a weak one, yet her heart seemed to excuse her
They were still at breakfast when Dumitru was ushered in
”Pardon, Princess, but I have news--iood Du for now”
”Yes,” was the answer ”This English Captain is about to move Whether he has the token or not I do not know, but Baron Petrescu believes he has Last night he picked a quarrel with hiht, and--”
”Fool that he is!” exclai from her seat
”Does not the Baron know that I had work for this Englishman? and now he has killed or maimed him in a useless quarrel”
”But it was not so, Princess; it was the Baron who fell”
Frina Mavrodin had also risen froether in her exciteh of relief echoed Dumitru's words
”A new experience for Baron Petrescu,” she said callishman is a devil,” the man went on rapidly