The journey from the French to the Bavarian capital had been rife5 with explanations. To Hope Van Tuyl, Grey had made the entire situation most clear, though he considerately refrained from revealing any feature or incident that would tend to alarm her. In his interview with Minna von Altdorf he had brought to bear all the tact6 of which209 he was possessed7. It was no easy matter for him, in view of his duplicity that day at Versailles, to make her a completely veracious8 statement of the facts; and it was especially difficult because of her veneration9 for her great-uncle, the late Herr Schlippenbach, whom Grey could not but regard as an egregious10 knave11.
She had been startled, surprised, pained, and bewildered by turns as he told her the story, but she never once questioned the truth nor doubted the honesty of the narrator.
“I simply can’t understand it,” she said, with distress12 in her pathetic eyes. “Why should Great-uncle Schlippenbach do such a thing? Why should he? How could he?”
“And I am just as much in the dark as you are,” Grey answered, soothingly13. “I have thought it over continually, and I can’t arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. I don’t remember ever having seen him, and why he should have selected me for this great honour—for, after all, it is an honour to be elevated to the throne, isn’t it?” he laughed—“I can’t imagine.”
“We always knew he was eccentric,” the Fraü210lein went on. “He had most marvellous ideas on certain subjects, but I won’t believe he was criminal. He must have been just a little bit insane.”
And then Grey asked her how it came that she joined the little party in London.
“You see, Great-uncle Schlippenbach wrote me that he was going to Budavia and asked me if I would like to go with him and see my sister in Kürschdorf,” she explained. “That was reasonable enough—there was nothing insane about that, was there? My school term had just ended, and it was a question whether I should make my home with my sister over here or return to America with him.”
“And he told you I was your uncle?”
“Oh, yes. You know I have an uncle in New York. His name is Max Arndt. That is true. And he told me that you were he.”
Grey shook his head in token of his perplexity.
“What became of your Great-uncle Schlippenbach’s luggage?” he asked, suddenly, after a pause.
“I have it with me,” the girl answered, frankly14. “I shall take it to my sister’s.”
211 “Have you opened it?”
“No. I thought that she and I would open it together.”
“It is possible, you know, that it may contain something that will give us a hint as to his motive15 in this matter,” Grey said, in explanation of his interest.
“Oh, I do hope so,” the Fr?ulein returned. “I am so anxious about it.”
Grey was on the point of leaving the compartment, when he felt a hand holding the hem16 of his coat.
“I have just one question to ask,” said the girl as he turned. She was not looking at him, but she still retained her hold.
“Well?” he queried17, laconically18; and his voice was kindly19 inviting20.
“Would you mind very much if I—that is to say, may I, still, although you are not really, but—may I go on calling you Uncle Max?” The hesitating embarrassment21 of the first part of her utterance22 was followed by a nervous blurting23 of the question in conclusion.
“I shall feel very much hurt, Minna,” Grey212 answered, “if you call me anything else.” And he took the little hand from his coat and pressed it affectionately.
* * * * *
When the train for Kürschdorf arrived at Anslingen, on the Budavian border, there was more than the ordinary delay. There was, moreover, evidence of something unusual in the throng24 upon the platform and the suppressed excitement of those composing it. Johann, who had sprung out instantly from the third-class carriage in which he and Marcelle were travelling—his object being to secure the passage of the party’s luggage through the Custom House—was at once recognised and besieged25 by a horde26 of questioners.
“The Prince!” they cried with one accord. “You are with him, are you not? Where is he? In which carriage? What is he like?” And he had no little difficulty in shaking them off and attending to the business in hand.
By some mysterious means the report had spread, and what was at first mere27 rumour28 had later found substantial confirmation29 in the discovered presence at the station of two distinguished213 personages: General Roederer, Commander of the Budavian army, and Prince von Eisenthal, conservative leader of the Budavian Assembly; each accompanied by a more or less gorgeously uniformed retinue30.
Grey, looking from the carriage window, noted31 the crowd with some little apprehension32. He glanced at O’Hara and saw that he too suspected the cause. To the two ladies of the party nothing had been said of the telegram addressed to the name appended to the Lindenwald despatch33, and they consequently saw less of significance in the demonstration34, though they noted the gathering35 as extraordinary.
As Grey peered at the constantly increasing throng he wondered whether his message had been ill-considered. He had, in a way, sent it blindly, not knowing whether Ritter was an ally or a dupe of the conspirators36, and he had sent it knowing that, in either event, Lindenwald was on the spot to take whatever ground he chose and to use whatever argument he deemed most fitting. If the Captain so fancied he could have him arrested on the charge of being a pretender to the214 throne, and would, armed with that strong-box left by old Schlippenbach, have small difficulty in proving his allegation. For exoneration37 he himself might appeal to his Government, but as an absconding38 defaulter he could look for meagre assistance from that quarter. O’Hara had told him it was dangerous business, but he had spurned39 advice, and now he was face to face with the consequences, whatever they might be. He was a trifle nervous, his heart was beating faster than its wont40, and there was a red spot in each cheek; but even while looking on the darkest side of the picture he regretted nothing. This crisis had to be faced in one form or another, and he was glad the moment for facing it had arrived.
There was a movement in the crowd a few yards down the platform. The police were ordering the people back and clearing a lane beside the railway carriages. Grey thrust his head from the window and saw coming down this lane, in company with the train conductor, an army officer in olive green uniform and black helmet. Upon his breast was pinned a rosette of crepe, the insignia of mourning for the dead monarch41.
215 At the door of each first-class compartment the two men halted for a second, asked a question and came on. But before they reached the carriage in which Grey was waiting, Johann, who had discerned their object, overtook them and led the way. Meanwhile, though Grey had not spoken, his companions had, intuitively, or by some other occult means, become aware of what was impending42, and sat in breathless expectation.
And then, suddenly, before anticipation43 had been quite dethroned by realization44, the officer was saluting45, was being joined by his superiors and the rest of their retinues46, and Grey was standing47 erect48 and dignified2, listening to a little formal speech of welcome from the bearded lips of Prince von Eisenthal.
The crowd cheered lustily, of course, and cried: “God save Prince Max!” And a band played the Budavian national anthem49. After which, or rather in the midst of which, the Prince and General Roederer entered the compartment with Grey and his friends, their suites51 finding places as best they could elsewhere, and the train, with much ringing of bells and blowing of whistles, moved216 off into the valley of the Weisswasser, its locomotive now gay with many Budavian flags and streamers of red and white bunting—colours of the royal house of Kronfeld.
Grey’s relief from the tension of uncertainty52 found expression in an interested animation53 that impressed Prince von Eisenthal most favourably54. He asked many questions concerning the affairs of the little kingdom, both political and commercial, and exhibited a concern over the conservative policy of the late King that was especially pleasing to the leader of the conservative forces. General Roederer, meanwhile, addressed himself to the ladies and Lieutenant55 O’Hara. He was a bluff56 but gallant57 old fellow, with ruddy complexion58 and iron-grey hair, and he possessed a quaint59 humour that kept the little company in gay spirits throughout the hour of the trip from the frontier to the capital.
“I am deeply regretful, your Royal Highness,” he said to Grey, as the towers and spires60 of Kürschdorf came into view, “that we are not at liberty to offer you such a demonstration on your arrival as I should have liked. But His Majesty,217 the late King, you understand, is still above sod, the Court is in mourning, and the Prince Regent deemed it unfitting to give you more than the most informal of welcomes.”
Grey bowed his acknowledgment.
“I am glad,” he said, tactfully, “though I do not fail to appreciate the expression of good will in your desire. The Prince Regent’s views and mine, in this matter, are in perfect accord.”
But, however well the ideas of the supposed heir and the Prince Regent may have coincided, the populace was by no means of the same mind. It is not every day that a Prince of Kronfeld arrives in Kürschdorf—not every day that a new King comes from across the sea to take his place as ruler of his people—and the loyal townsfolk, despite the brevity of time between announcement and arrival, and the expressed opposition62 of their temporary ruler to anything in the nature of an ovation63, hung gay banners amid the mourning drapery of their house fronts, closed their offices and shops and turned out in gala dress and mood to crowd the streets, the squares and the cafés.
218 As the train drew slowly into the railway station Grey leaned over and took Hope’s hand.
“I’ll probably have to leave you for a little,” he said, regretfully, “but O’Hara will see that you get to the hotel, and I’ll try to look in this evening.”
Outside the station a landau, its panels decorated with the royal arms and drawn64 by six cream-white Arabian horses in glittering, gold-mounted harness, stood in waiting, with coachman, footman and postillions in the purple and scarlet65 livery of the Court; while thirty yards away, in line along the opposite side of the Bahnhof Platz, was a troop of the King’s Cuirassiers, their breastplates and helmets of silver and gold glinting fiery66 red in the glow of the sunset.
Cheer after cheer rang out as Grey, with the Prince on his right and the General on his left, passed through the station, followed by the welcoming company that had escorted him from Anslingen, and took his place in the waiting carriage. And, as the little procession of which he was the dominating feature wound through the boulevards and streets of the new town and across the beautiful219 Charlemagne bridge over the turbulent Weisswasser into the more ancient and picturesque67 quarter of the city, the cheering, it seemed to him, grew louder and more continuous. At one point a group of young girls in white frocks and red ribbons ran out into the roadway to spread flowers in the path of his equipage, and at another a chorus of a hundred students, crowded on the balconies of a Brauerei, greeted his coming with a patriotic68 glee, sung as only male voices of Teutonic breeding and training can sing choruses.
Grey’s emotions during this drive were novel and complex. There were moments when he almost felt that he was indeed the Prince—not that any marvellous transubstantiation had taken place, but that he had always been so—and that all this homage69, this enthusiastic applause and adulation were his by right; and there were moments when his heart grew sick at the fraud, the imposition, the error, and he knit his brows and reproached himself for letting the deception70 go so far.
The magnitude the affair had suddenly assumed appalled71 him. Heretofore he had regarded it as a mere personal matter. He had been outraged72,220 his honour sullied, his life threatened, and he was justified73, he had told himself, in using every means within his power to bring his enemies to book. But he had not perceived the possibilities of permitting this line of investigation74 to run on unchecked. In a single moment the adventure had become a matter of national import. He was guilty now of masquerading as heir to the throne of a European monarchy75. Hitherto the crime lay at the doors of a few conspirators, who, to serve certain nefarious76 ends of which he knew nothing, had striven to secure for him the crown. In that plot he had personally had no part. Everything had been done without his cognisance or consent; but now it was not they alone who were forcing the scheme to a consummation. He had, practically, for the time being at least, joined hands with them and was passively allowing their plans to be carried out, though fully61 aware of the impious character of the whole proceeding77.
And the enormity of his thoughtless offence was at each foot of the way made more and more apparent by these cheering masses of people. When they should learn that they had been tricked, what221 explanation would serve to assuage78 their resentment79? Love and homage would be turned to hatred80 and vengeance81, and no excuse that he could offer would have any weight against their sense of outraged loyalty82.
Then his thoughts took a new trend, and he asked himself how it was possible that old Schlippenbach and his fellow-plotters had been able thus to fool the conservative leaders of a great nation regarding a matter so vital to the very existence of their most cherished institutions as the legitimate83 succession to the regal sceptre. What incontrovertible proofs had it been possible to offer in order to bring about this ready acceptance of a man whom the Budavian people had never seen to rule over their nation’s destinies? After all, there was where the blame must lie. The preposterousness84 of the proposition, it seemed to him, should have been apparent to the most simple-minded.
And, as he thought, the landau, with the flashing cuirassiers galloping85 ahead and behind and on either side, began the tortuous86 ascent87 of the Wartburg by the wide, wooded avenues that wind from the palace gates through the sumptuous222 royal gardens up to the imposing88 Residenz Schloss on the mountain’s apex89. Now and then, through rifts90 in the foliage91, Grey got glimpses of the vast, formidable, castle-like pile of sombre stone perched far above him, the outline of its battlemented towers showing sharp and clear against the pink of the sunset-tinted sky; and it seemed to frown forbiddingly, resembling more a great fortress92 at this distance than the magnificent palace it is.
Twenty minutes later, to a musical fanfare93 of bugles94, a clinking of bit chains and a rattle95 of steel-shod hoofs96 on stone paving, the carriage swept in under the great grey porte-cochère; the massive oaken doors of the Schloss swung impressively inward, and Chancellor97 von Ritter, in his robes of office, with a dozen attendants at his back, stood in token of formal welcome on the threshold.
To Grey’s immense relief, however, the ensuing formalities were of the briefest description, and almost immediately he found himself proceeding under the Chancellor’s guidance and direction toward a suite50 of rooms in the Flag Tower that had been prepared against his coming.
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1
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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egregious
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| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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blurting
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的现在分词 ) | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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exoneration
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| n.免罪，免除 | |
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absconding
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| v.（尤指逃避逮捕）潜逃，逃跑( abscond的现在分词 ) | |
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spurned
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| v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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retinues
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| n.一批随员( retinue的名词复数 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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anthem
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| n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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suites
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| n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓 | |
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52
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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54
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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55
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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56
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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58
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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61
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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ovation
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| n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌 | |
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64
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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68
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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70
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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71
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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72
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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73
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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preposterousness
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| n.preposterous（颠倒的，首末倒置的）的变形 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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86
tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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rifts
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| n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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fanfare
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| n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布 | |
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bugles
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| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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