The Great Court Scandal Part 28

Five weeks later.

A hot summer's night in Treysa. It was past midnight, yet before the gay, garish cafes people still lingered at the little tables, enjoying to the full the cool breeze after the heat and burden of the day, or strolled beneath the lime avenues in the Klosterstra.s.se, gossiping or smoking, all loth to retire.

In the great palace beyond the trees at the end of the vista the State dinner had ended, and the lonely King, glad to escape to the privacy of his own workroom in the farther wing of the palace, had cast himself into a long lounge-chair and selected a cigar. He was still in his military uniform, rendered the more striking by the many glittering orders across his breast--the Golden Fleece, the Black Eagle, the Saint Hubert, the Saint Andrew, and the rest. As he lit his cigar very slowly his face a.s.sumed a heavy, thoughtful look, entirely different from the mask of careless good-humour which he had worn at the brilliant function he had just left. The reception had not ended; it would continue for a couple of hours longer. But he was tired and bored to death of it all, and the responsibility as ruler already weighed very heavily upon him.

Though he made no mention of it to a single soul, he thought of his absent wife often--very often. Now and then a pang of remorse would cause him to knit his brows. Perhaps, after all, he had not treated her quite justly. And yet, he would rea.s.sure himself, she was surely not as innocent as she pretended. No, no; she was worthless. They were therefore better apart--far better.

Since his accession he had, on several occasions, been conscience-stricken. Once, in the empty nursery, he had noticed little Ignatia's toys, her dolls and perambulator, lying where the child had left them, and tears had sprung to his eyes. Allen, the kindly Englishwoman, too, had been to him and resigned her appointment, as she had no further duties to perform.

The Crown Princess's disappearance had at first been a nine-days' wonder in Treysa, but now her continued absence was regarded with but little surprise. The greatest scandal in the world dies down like gra.s.s in autumn. Those who had conspired against her congratulated themselves that they had triumphed, and were now busy starting fresh intrigues against the young Queen's partisans.

Since the hour that his sweet-faced wife had left the palace in secret, the King had received no word from her. He had learned from Vienna that she had been to Wartenstein, and that her father had cast her out; but after that she had disappeared--to Rome he had been told. As Crown Prince he had had his liberty, but now as King he lived apart, and was unapproachable. His was a lonely life. The duties of kingship had sobered him, and now he saw full well the lack of a clever consort as his wife was--a queen who could rule the Court.

Those about him believed him to be blind to their defects and their intrigues, because he was silent concerning them. Yet, if the truth were told, he was extremely wideawake, and saw with regret how, without the Queen's aid, he must fall beneath the influence of those who were seeking place and power, to the distinct detriment of the nation.

Serious thoughts such as these were consuming him as he sat watching the smoke rings ascend to the dark-panelled ceiling.

"Where is she, I wonder?" he asked himself aloud, his voice sighing through the room. "She has never reproached me--never. I wonder if all they have told me concerning her is really true." As he uttered these words of suspicion his jaws became firmly set, and a hardness showed at the corners of his mouth. "Ah, yes!" he added. "It is, alas! only too true--too true. Hinckeldeym would never dare to lie to me!"

And he sat with his serious eyes cast upon the floor, reflecting gloomily upon the past, as he now so very often reflected.

The room was luxurious in its appointments, for since his father's death he had had it redecorated and refurnished. The stern old monarch had liked a plain, severe, business-like room in which to attend to the details of State, but his son held modern ideas, and loved to surround himself with artistic things, hence the white-and-gold decorations, the electric-light fittings, the furniture and the pale green upholstery were all in the style of the _art nouveau_, and had the effect of exquisite taste.

A tiny clock ticked softly upon the big, littered writing-table, and from without, in the marble corridor, the slow, even tread of the sentry reached his ear.

Suddenly, while he was smoking and thinking, a low rap was heard; and giving permission to enter, he looked round, and saw Hinckeldeym, who, in Court dress, bowed and advanced, with his c.o.c.ked hat tucked beneath his arm, saying,--

"I regret, sire, to crave audience at this hour, but it is upon a matter both imperative and confidential."

"Then shut the inner door," his Majesty said in a hard voice, and the flabby-faced old fellow closed the second door that was placed there as precaution against eavesdroppers.

"Well?" asked the King, turning to him in some surprise that he should be disturbed at that hour.

"After your Majesty left the Throne Room I was called out to receive an urgent dispatch that had just arrived by Imperial courier from Vienna.

This dispatch," and he drew it from his pocket, "shows most plainly that his Majesty the Emperor is seriously annoyed at your Majesty's laxness and hesitation to apply for a divorce. Yesterday he called our Amba.s.sador and remarked that although he had degraded the Princess, taken from her all her t.i.tles, her decorations, and her privileges, yet you, her husband, had done absolutely nothing. I crave your Majesty's pardon for being compelled to speak so plainly," added the wily old fellow, watching the disturbing effect his words had upon his Sovereign.

"That is all very well," he answered, in a mechanical voice. "The Emperor's surprise and annoyance are quite natural. I have been awaiting your reports, Hinckeldeym. Before my wife's disappearance you seemed to be particularly well-informed--through De Trauttenberg, I suppose--of all her movements and her intentions. Yet since she left you have been content to remain in utter ignorance."

"Not in entire ignorance, sire. Did I not report to you that she went to Vienna in the man's company?"

"And where is the man at the present moment?"

"At Camaldoli, a health resort in central Italy. The Amba.s.sador and several of the staff are spending the summer up there."

"Well, what else do you know?" the King asked, fixing his eyes upon the crafty old scoundrel who was the greatest power in the Kingdom. "Can you tell me where my wife is--that's the question? I don't think much of your secret service which costs the country so much, if you cannot tell me that," he said frankly.

"Yes, your Majesty, I can tell you that, and very much more," the old fellow answered, quite unperturbed. "The truth is that I have known where she has been for a long time past, and a great deal has been discovered. Yet, for your Majesty's peace of mind, I have not mentioned so painful a subject. Had I not exerted every effort to follow the Princess I should surely have been wanting in my duties as Minister."

"Then where is she?" he asked quickly, rising from his chair.

"In England--at a small watering-place on the South Coast, called Worthing."

"Well--and what else?"

Heinrich Hinckeldeym made no reply for a few moments, as though hesitating to tell his royal master all that he knew. Then at last he said, with that wily insinuation by which he had already ruined the poor Princess's reputation and good name,--

"The rest will, I think, best be furnished to the counsel who appears on your Majesty's behalf to apply for a divorce."

"Ah!" he sighed sadly. "Is it so grave as that? Well, Hinckeldeym, you may tell me everything, only recollect I must have proof--proof. You understand?" he added hoa.r.s.ely.

"Hitherto I have always endeavoured to give your Majesty proof, and on certain occasions you have complimented me upon my success in discovering the secrets of the pair," he answered.

"I know I have, but I must have more proof now. There must be no surmises--but hard, solid facts, you understand! In those days I was only Crown Prince. To-day I am King, and my wife is Queen--whatever may be her faults."

The old Minister was considerably taken aback by this sudden refusal on his royal master's part to accept every word of his as truth. Yet outwardly he exhibited no sign of annoyance or of disappointment. He was a perfect diplomatist.

"If your Majesty will deign to give them audience, I will, within half an hour, bring here the two secret service agents who have been to England, and they shall tell you with their own lips what they have discovered."

"Yes, do so," the King exclaimed anxiously. "Let them tell me the whole truth. They will be discreet, of course, and not divulge to the people that I have given them audience--eh?"

"They are two of the best agents your Majesty possesses. If I may be permitted, I will go at once and send for them."

And walking backwards, he bowed, and left the room. Three-quarters of an hour later he returned, bringing with him a middle-aged, thin-faced woman, rather tall and thin, dressed plainly in black, and a tall, grey-haired, and rather gentlemanly looking man, whom he introduced to their Sovereign, who was standing with his back to the writing-table.

The woman's name was Rose Reinherz and the man's Otto Stieger.

The King surveyed both of them critically. He had never seen any member of his secret service in the flesh before, and was interested in them and in their doings.

"The Minister Hinckeldeym tells me," he said, addressing Stieger, "that you are both members of our secret service, and that you have returned from England. I wish to hear your report from your own lips. Tell me exactly what you have discovered without any fear of giving me personal offence. I want to hear the whole truth, remember, however disagreeable it may be."

"Yes," added the evil-eyed old Minister. "Tell his Majesty all that you have discovered regarding the lady, who for the present purposes may remain nameless." The spy hesitated for a moment, confused at finding himself called so suddenly into the presence of his Sovereign, and without an opportunity of putting on another suit of clothes. Besides, he was at a loss how to begin.

"Did you go to Vienna?" asked the King.

"I was sent to Vienna the instant it became known that the Crown Princess--I mean the lady--had left the palace. I discovered that she had driven to her father's palace, but finding him absent had gone to Wartenstein. I followed her there, but she had left again before I arrived, and I entirely lost track of her. Probably she went to Paris, but of that I am not sure. I went to Rome, and for a fortnight kept observation upon the Count, but he wrote no letters to her, which made me suspect that she was hiding somewhere in Rome."

"You reported that she was actually in Rome. Hinckeldeym told me that."

The Minister's grey brows were knit, but only for a second.

"I did not report that she was actually there, sire. I only reported my suspicion."

"A suspicion which was turned into an actual fact before it reached my ears--eh?" he said in a hard voice. "Go on."

Hinckeldeym now regretted that he had so readily brought his spies face to face with the King.

"After losing touch with the lady for several weeks, it was discovered that she was staying under an a.s.sumed name at the Savoy Hotel, in London. I travelled from Rome to London post haste, and took a room at the hotel, finding that she had engaged a young Englishwoman named Redmayne as maid, and that she was in the habit of meeting in secret a certain Englishman named Bourne, who seemed to be leading a curiously secluded life. I reported this to the Minister Hinckeldeym, who at once sent me as a.s.sistant Rose Reinherz, now before your Majesty. Together we have left no stone unturned to fully investigate the situation, and-- well, we have discovered many things."

"And what are they? Explain."