Part 11 (1/2)

”Are you sure, Dehra, you ought to mix in this unfortunate squabble?” he asked. ”Is it--”

She turned upon him sharply. ”Squabble! Do you call a contest for Valeria's Throne a squabble?”-then suddenly she smiled-that sweet, adorable smile she ever had for him. ”Be very careful, sir, or I shall tumble both you and Lotzen aside, and take the Throne myself.... Now, will you escort me!”

He looked at her thoughtfully, then smiled and patted her cheek.

”Come, Your Majesty,” he said; ”come, and claim your Crown; it's yours by right, and I shall be the first to swear allegiance.”

”And the first to rebel, dear,” she laughed.

They entered the council chamber through the King's cabinet, and as the Princess halted a moment in the doorway the Ministers sprang to their feet and stood waiting, while Ferdinand of Lotzen advanced and bowed low; not offering, however, to take her hand, fearing it would not be given, and having no notion to risk a snub in such company.

To his astonishment, Dehra extended her hand and let him kiss it.

”You come on a sad errand, cousin,” she said.... ”I would you were still in Lotzenia.” The words were so innocently fitting, yet the double meaning was so deliberate.

The Duke slowly straightened, discomfiture and amus.e.m.e.nt struggling for control, while Armand smiled openly and the Ministers looked away.

Meanwhile, the Princess pa.s.sed on serenely to the table and took the chair at its head. Then, led by Count Epping, the Council came forward and made obeisance. She received them with just that touch of dignified sadness which the circ.u.mstances demanded, and which, with men, a woman must measure with the exactness of fine gold. And with it there was the low, sweet voice, the winning graciousness, and the dazzling smile-now softened just a trifle-that never yet had failed to conquer, and that had made her the toast of the Army and the pride of the Nation. And Armand had watched her, with glistening eyes, as one after another she sent the Ministers back to their places, bound to her chariot wheels; captive and content.

And Ferdinand of Lotzen, seeing, understood; and for the first time he realized fully what her aid meant to his rival, and how little chance he had to win, save with the Laws. And straightway the last faint scruple perished, and he set his cold heart against her, as well. Henceforth, for him, there was but one object in life-the Crown of his ancestors, and for all who interfered there would be neither consideration nor mercy.

And the Princess' eye, resting for an instant on his face, read something of his mind, and with a lift of the chin and a careless smile she turned to the Council.

”My lords,” she said, ”His Royal Highness has acquainted me with your desires, and I am glad indeed if I can serve you. His Majesty, the night before he died, executed the decree necessary to make the Archduke Armand his successor.”

”You saw the decree?” Count Epping asked.

”No, I did not, but what I know is this. Late that night I went into the King's library; he was sitting at his desk, with the Book of Laws open before him and a pen in his hand. He was blotting a page as I entered.

'You have made Armand's decree?' I cried, and went to his side to read it; but he laughed and closed the Book, saying: 'You may see it to-morrow, child, after I have told Armand.'”

”And he did not tell you the words of the decree,” the Count asked, after a pause, ”neither then nor the following day?”

The Princess closed her eyes and lowered her head. ”No,” she said; ”no-I never saw my father again-alive.”

There was a distressing silence-then Armand spoke:

”The Council will understand that His Majesty had no opportunity to tell me of the decree. I was with him yesterday only at the review; naturally he would not speak of it then.”

”And that was, I suppose, the last time you saw the Book of Laws?” Epping asked, addressing the Princess, who had recovered her composure.

”Yes-it was lying on the table when I left.”

”May I ask Your Highness,” said Steuben, ”why, when you saw that His Majesty had been writing in the Book of Laws, you a.s.sumed, instantly, that it was 'Armand's decree,' as you put it?”

”You must know, my lords,” she responded, ”that it is rare, indeed, that a new law is made for the Dalbergs, there have been but five in the last hundred years, and the making is ever due to some extraordinary circ.u.mstance, which is known, of course, to all the family. We had been antic.i.p.ating the decree, restoring Armand to his rightful place in the Line of Succession as Hugo's heir, and hence it was very natural to a.s.sume it was that which His Majesty had written.” She paused, and, for an instant, her glance strayed to the Duke of Lotzen. ”But it was particularly natural,” she went on, ”inasmuch as the King had mentioned the matter to me twice within the week, the last time that very morning, and referring to it as 'Armand's decree.'”

Steuben nodded. ”I am satisfied,” he said-and Duval and Marquand nodded.

The Prime Minister turned to Ferdinand.