The Princess Dehra Part 53

"Keep him under surveillance. We leave to-night; reach Dornlitz by ten A. M.

"Armand."

"Yes," said the Princess, "and add that he is to call the Royal Council for half after ten at the Summer Palace.-I'm going to give Lotzen a chance to explain a few things."

XXIII THE CANOPY OF SWORDS

When the train had crossed the Lorg and the towers of Dornlitz shone far off to the front, the following morning, the Princess sent for the Archduke.

"Armand," said she, "I have been thinking-much of the night, indeed-and I am persuaded that this day will see the end of our quest; don't smile; wait, wait until the day has pa.s.sed. Lotzen knows where the Book is-he hasn't it-he never has had it-he would not have needed a counterfeit if he had; besides, do you fancy he would have left it behind when he went to Lotzenia-or that he would have come back here if he had it with him?

If he knows now where the Book is, he has known all along-then why hasn't he got it? Because it's been impracticable, no adequate opportunity.

Where is the opportunity now that he hasn't had before?-the Summer Palace-with the Household gone, he can spend a day in it without explanation or interruption-and the King's suite is vacant. There Adolph hid the Laws-and Lotzen knows where-and they are what he has gone for; that is why he left his Castle night before last, within an hour after me; he realized the false book would send us back to Dornlitz and that he must go instantly if he would be there first. Oh, it's all plain now-to me at least."

The Archduke went over and stood beside her, stroking her fair hair softly with his finger tips.

"Sweetheart," said he, "there is much force in what you say, and you will also remember that Elise d'Essolde saw Lotzen come from the library the day you charged him with killing Adolph and stealing the Book. Yet the answer to it all is, that the entire Palace has been searched and vainly-and the King's suite torn almost into bits. Hence, under the facts, your theory seems unavailing."

She looked up at him with a half disappointed smile, but with an insistent shake of the head.

"You go too far with your facts, dear," she said; "I, too, thought that every inch of the King's suite had been searched, but I've changed my mind; it hasn't been-if it had, we would have found the Laws."-She gave a cry and sprang up. "The box, Armand! the box! the Book's in it."

He looked at her in amazement.

"The box was empty," he said.

"Yes-was! was! but is not now! When did you look in it last?"

"At the Council."

"Exactly-so did I-and Adolph brought it to us, lid down and 'locked,' she said. Oh, I see it all now:-it wasn't locked, and he put the Book back in it, and told Lotzen, and Lotzen killed him-and then, when he came for the Book, he found the combination changed-you did it, you know-and as long as Moore was in the suite he could not break the vault; so he lures us all away: if he can kill you, he will be King and can get the Book at his leisure; if he fail, as he has done, then it's the Laws before we return." She flung her arms around his neck. "Don't tell me I'm mistaken, Armand! don't tell me I'm mistaken!"

He held her off, and looked at her in wondering admiration.

"Oh woman!" he said, "oh faith, and intuition, and loyalty beyond the stars! No, Dehra, I will not say you are mistaken; I do not know; we will test it. We will go straight to the Palace-you and I, without a word as to our purpose-and we will open the vault, and the box-and if the Laws are in it, yours be the glory."

"And yours the Crown!" she cried, and kissed his hand.

Then the train ran into the station and stopped, and the Archduke stepped out and gave his hand to the Princess. The platform was empty save for Count Epping.

"Your Royal Highness will pardon the informality of your reception," the Prime Minister said, when the greetings were over; "I a.s.sumed you did not want Lotzen to know of your coming; I even waited until nine o'clock to call the Council;-and I did not notify him, and so warn him that we had penetrated his disguise."

"Where is he now?" the Princess asked.

"At Ferida Palace-he went there last night and has not left it since."

"I think I want him at the Council," she said; "Colonel Moore, will you and Colonel Bernheim please go and summon him; then follow us at once; and do you, my dear Count, come to me as soon as the Ministers have a.s.sembled."

The brougham flashed away, and the Archduke drew down the blinds.

Dehra gave a satisfied little sigh and sank back in the corner.

"We seem to have beaten him," she said; "we shall have the first look into the box."

Armand put his arm around her, and drew the fair head to his shoulder.

"I have already beaten him," he said-"we fought first, for you, little girl. A fig for the box, and the Book and the Crown!"

At the gate of the Park the Princess signaled to halt, and raised the blind.

"Who of the Royal Council have arrived?" she asked the officer on duty.

"His Royal Highness the Duke of Lotzen, General Du--" he got no further.

"To my private entrance! quick, quick!" she called, and the carriage shot away....

"What does it mean?" she demanded; "Epping said Lotzen had not left the Ferida."

"It means that you have solved the riddle. Lotzen has not come to the Council, he does not even know of it; he has come for the Book."

They drew up at the door, the Archduke opened it with Dehra's key, and they dashed up stairs. She s.n.a.t.c.hed a master-key from a drawer of her writing table, and they crossed the corridor and entered the King's suite through the small reception room, between which and the library lay a cabinet and a bedroom.

As they entered the latter, treading cautiously, they heard the Duke of Lotzen's voice in the library, the door of which stood ajar.

"It's a pity to break it," he was saying, "but--" and there was a snap and crack.

Under the Archduke's hand the door opened noiselessly, and through the narrow rift, between the hangings, they could see within.

The Duke, no longer disguised but wearing the undress uniform of his rank, was standing at the large desk; beside him an officer in a long cape and a Cuira.s.sier helmet; and before him the big, black box of the Laws. He had just forced the lock; now he laid back the lid, and took out the Book.

"We win, d.u.c.h.ess!" he said, "we win! thanks to your marvellous fingers and quick brain," and lifting the helmet from Madeline Spencer's high piled hair, he kissed her ardently.

"Not so, cousin!" said the Princess, flinging aside the curtain, "you lose-it is we who win."

For a moment the Duke stood staring, too amazed to speak, and Mrs.

Spencer, with a sharp cry, fled to his side; then, as he saw the end of his dream, the pa.s.sing of his hopes, the fierce and fiery spirit, that was always burning deep in his soul, burst through the gyves of studied equanimity his stern will had imposed.

"Not yet!" he cried, "not yet!" and turning quickly he tossed the Book into the big chimney behind him where a wood fire burned.

"Come on!" he taunted, flashing out his sword, "come on, cousin Armand!-there's your crown, come get it!"

"Look to the Book, Dehra!" the Archduke called, and sprang at Lotzen, with a joyful smile. "At last!" he said, and the fight began.

"Push the Book farther into the fire, Madeline!" the Duke ordered, the words timed to the beat of the steel.