第67章 CHAPTER XXXIV(1)

The Prince presented himself with a low bow. Lucille had a copy of the morning paper in her hand.

"I congratulate you, Countess," he said. "You progress admirably.

It is a great step gained."

Lucille, who was looking pale and nervous, regarded him with anxiety.

"A step! But it is everything. If these rumours are true, he refuses the attempt to form a Cabinet. He takes a subordinate position under Letheringham. Every paper this morning says that if this is so his political career is over. It is true, is it not?"

"It is a great gain," the Prince said slowly.

"But it is everything," Lucille declared, with a rising note of passion in her tone. "It was my task. It is accomplished. I demand my release."

The Prince was silent for a moment.

"You are in a great hurry, Lucille," he said.

"What if I am!" she replied fiercely. "Do you suppose that this life of lies and deceit is pleasant to me? Do you suppose that it is a pleasant task to lure a brave man on to his ruin?"

The Prince raised his eyebrows.

"Come," he said, "you can have no sympathy with Reginald Brott, the sworn enemy of our class, a Socialist, a demagogue who would parcel out our lands in allotments, a man who has pledged himself to nothing more nor less than a revolution."

"The man's views are hateful enough," she answered, "but he is in earnest, and however misguided he may be there is something noble in his unselfishness, in his, steady fixedness of purpose."

The Prince's face indicated his contempt.

"Such men," he declared, "are only fit to be crushed like vermin under foot. In any other country save England we should have dealt with him differently."

"This is all beside the question," she declared, "My task was to prevent his becoming Prime Minister, and I have succeeded."

The Prince gave vent to a little gesture of dissent. "Your task," he said, "went a little farther than that. We require his political ruin."

She pointed to the pile of newspapers upon the table.

"Read what they say!" she exclaimed. "There is not one who does not use that precise term. He has missed his opportunity. The people will never trust him again."

"That, at any rate, is not certain," the Prince said. "You must remember that before long he will realise that he has been your tool. What then? He will become more rabid than ever, more also to be feared. No, Lucille, your task is not yet over. He must be involved in an open and public scandal, and with you."

She was white almost to the lips with passion.

"You expect a great deal!" she exclaimed. "You expect me to ruin my life, then, to give my honour as well as these weary months, this constant humiliation."

"You are pleased to be melodramatic," he said coldly. "It is quite possible to involve him without actually going to extremes."

"And what of my husband?" she asked.

'The Prince laughed unpleasantly.

"If you have not taught him complaisance," he said, "it is possible, of course, that Mr. Sabin might be unkind. But what of it? You are your own mistress. You are a woman of the world. Without him there is an infinitely greater future before you than as his wife you could ever enjoy."

"You are pleased," she said, "to be enigmatic."

The Prince looked hard at her. Her face was white and set. He sighed.

"Lucille," he said, "I have been very patient for many years. Yet you know very well my secret, and in your heart you know very well that I am one of those who generally win the thing upon which they have set their hearts. I have always loved you, Lucille, but nevermore than now. Fidelity is admirable, but surely you have done your duty. He is an old man, and a man who has failed in the great things of life. I, on the other hand, can offer you a great future.

Saxe Leinitzer, as you know, is a kingdom of its own, and, Lucille, I stand well with the Emperor. The Socialist party in Berlin are strong and increasing. He needs us. Who can say what honours may not be in store for us? For I, too, am of the Royal House, Lucille.

I am his kinsman. He never forgets that. Come, throw aside this restlessness. I will tell you how to deal with Brott, and the publicity, after all, will be nothing. We will go abroad directly afterwards."

"Have you finished?" she asked.

"You will be reasonable!" he begged.

"Reasonable!" She turned upon him with flashing eyes. "I wonder how you ever dared to imagine that I could tolerate you for one moment as a lover or a husband. Wipe it out of your mind once and for all. You are repellent to me. Positively the only wish I have in connection with you is never to see your face again. As for my duty, I have done it. My conscience is clear. I shall leave this house to-day."

"I hope," the Prince said softly, "that you will do nothing rash!"

"In an hour," she said, "I shall be at the Carlton with my husband.

I will trust to him to protect me from you."

The Prince shook his head.

"You talk rashly," he said. "You do not think. You are forbidden to leave this house. You are forbidden to join your husband."

She laughed scornfully, but underneath was a tremor of uneasiness.

"You summoned me from America," she said, "and I came ... I was forced to leave my husband without even a word of farewell. I did it! You set me a task - I have accomplished it. I claim that I have kept my bond, that I have worked out my own freedom. If you require more of me, I say that you are overstepping your authority, and I refuse. Set the black cross against my name if you will. I will take the risk."

The Prince came a little nearer to her. She held her own bravely enough, but there was a look in his face which terrified her.