Beverly of Graustark Part 24

"I brought you here--" she began, defending him involuntarily. "But, Baldos, you forget that I am the princess!" She drew away in sudden shyness, her cheeks rosy once more, her eyes filling with the most distressingly unreasonable tears. He did not move for what seemed hours to her. She heard the sharp catch of his breath and felt the repression that was mastering some unwelcome emotion in him.

Lights were springing into existence in all parts of the park. Beverly saw the solitary window in the monastery far away, and her eyes fastened on it as if for sustenance in this crisis of her life--this moment of surprise--this moment when she felt him laying hands upon the heart she had not suspected of treason. Twilight was upon them; the sun had set and night was rushing up to lend unfair advantage to the forces against which they were struggling. The orchestra in the castle was playing something soft and tender--oh, so far away.

"I forget that I am a slave, your highness," he said at last, and his voice thrilled her through and through. She turned quickly and to her utter dismay found his face and eyes still close to hers, glowing in the darkness.

"Those men--over there," she whispered helplessly. "They are looking at you!"

"Now, I thank G.o.d eternally," he cried softly, "You do not punish me, you do not rebuke me. G.o.d, there is no night!"

"You--you must not talk like that," she cried, pulling herself together suddenly. "I cannot permit it, Baldos. You forget who you are, sir,"

"Ah, yes, your highness," he said, before he stood erect. "I forget that I was a suspected traitor. Now I am guilty of _lese majeste."_ Beverly felt herself grow hot with confusion.

"What am I to do with you?" she cried in perplexity, her heart beating shamefully. "You swear you are honest, and yet you won't tell me the truth. Now, don't stand like that! You are as straight as a ramrod, and I know your dignity is terribly offended. I may be foolish, but I _do_ believe you intend no harm to Graustark. You _cannot_ be a traitor."

"I will some day give my life to repay you for those words, your highness," he said. Her hand was resting on the side of the chair. Something warm touched it, and then it was lifted resistlessly. Hot, pa.s.sionate lips burned themselves into the white fingers, and a glow went into every fiber of her body.

"Oh!" was all she could say. He gently released the hand and threw up his chin resolutely.

"I am _almost_ ready to die," he said. She laughed for the first time since they entered the park.

"I don't know how to treat you," she said in a helpless flutter." You know a princess has many trials in life."

"Not the least of which is womanhood."

"Baldos," she said after a long pause. Something very disagreeable had just rushed into her brain. "Have you been forgetting all this time that the Princess Yetive is the wife of Grenfall Lorry?"

"It has never left my mind for an instant. From the bottom of my heart I congratulate him. His wife is an angel as well as a princess."

"Well, in the code of morals, is it quite proper to be so _loyal_ to another man's wife?" she asked, and then she trembled. He was supposed to know her as the wife of Grenfall Lorry, and yet he had boldly shown his love for her.

"It depends altogether on the other man's wife," he said, and she looked up quickly. It was too dark to see his face, but something told her to press the point no further. Deep down in her heart she was beginning to rejoice in the belief that he had found her out. If he still believed her to be the real princess, then he was--but the subject of conversation, at least, had to be changed.

"You say your message to Ravone was of a purely personal nature," she said.

"Yes, your highness." She did not like the way in which he said "your highness." It sounded as if he meant it.

"How did you know that you were to see him to-day?"

"We have waited for this opportunity since last week. Franz was in the castle grounds last Thursday."

"Good heavens! You don't mean it!"

"Yes, your highness. He carried a message to me from Ravone. That is why Ravone and the others waited for me in the hills."

"You amaze me!"

"I have seen Franz often," he confessed easily. "He is an excellent messenger."

"So it would seem. We must keep a lookout for him. He is the go-between for you all, I see."

"Did you learn to say 'you all' in America?" he asked. Her heart gave a great leap. There was something so subtle in the query that she was vastly relieved.

"Never mind about that, sir. You won't tell me what you said in your note to Ravone."

"I cannot."

"Well, he gave you one in return. If you are perfectly sincere, Baldos, you will hand that note over to me. It shall go no farther, I swear to you, if, as you vow, it does not jeopardize Graustark. Now, sir, prove your loyalty and your honesty."

He hesitated for a long time. Then from an inner pocket he drew forth a bit of paper.

"I don't see why it has not been destroyed," he said regretfully. "What a neglectful fool I have been!"

"You might have said it had been destroyed," she said, happy because he had not said it.

"But that would have been a lie. Read it, your highness, and return it to me. It must be destroyed."

"It is too dark to read it here." Without a word he handed the paper to her and called the chair bearers, to whom he gave instructions that brought her speedily beneath one of the park lamps. She afterwards recalled the guilty impulse which forced her to sit on the tell-tale note while the men were carrying her along in the driveway. When it was quite safe she slyly opened the missive. His hand closed over hers, and the note, and he bent close once more.

"My only fear is that the test will make it impossible for me to kiss your hand again," said he in a strained voice. She looked up in surprise.

"Then it is really something disloyal?"

"I have called it a test, your highness," he responded enigmatically.

"Well, we'll see," she said, and forthwith turned her eyes to the all-important paper. A quick flush crossed her brow; her eyes blinked hopelessly. The note was written in the Graustark language!

"I'll read it later, Baldos. This is no place for me to be reading notes, don't you know? Really, it isn't. I'll give it back to you to-morrow," she was in haste to say.

An inscrutable smile came over his face.

"Ravone's information is correct, I am now convinced," he said slowly. "Pray, your highness, glance over it now, that I may destroy it at once," he persisted.

"The light isn't good."

"It seems excellent."

"And I never saw such a miserable scrawl as this. He must have written it on horseback and at full gallop,"

"It is quite legible, your highness."

"I really cannot read the stuff. You know his handwriting. Read it to me. I'll trust you to read It carefully."

"This is embarra.s.sing, your highness, but I obey, of course, if you command. Here is what Ravone says:

"'We have fresh proof that she is not the princess, but the American girl. Be exceedingly careful that she does not lead you into any admissions. The Americans are tricky. Have little to say to her, and guard your tongue well. We are all well and are hoping for the best.'"