it is mine i am afraid will get nothing well he added aloud are you satisfied perfectly in that case said the cardinal we may look on the d as already accomplished chapter xx the calm before the needless to say the princess was delighted with the success of s mission as a matter of fact its accomplishment was due more to the cardinal than to the major but as the latter was the agent in carrying out the affair he received all the credit so far as was concerned it mattered but little to her who secured so long as he was gained over to her side but confident that no ingratitude on her part could the cardinal she ignored his share in the triumph and all her praise on the major conceive the pride with which heard such compliments from royal lips he knew perfectly well that had brought to him entirely willing to join the royal cause and that nothing was needed to the matter but the promise that the money would be paid yet with this knowledge the major began to believe that he was an uncommonly clever who had conducted a difficult to a successful termination as to the of all this flattered himself that the result rested with him for he had hit upon a method of securing the in london ring through the of the affair was still in as the major s brain had not yet completed the various details but it was sufficiently forward to assure him that he would obtain possession of the ring before the money was paid over to when this happened was not sure whether he would carry out the or fly the kingdom leaving the to their fate if he stayed he ran a chance of losing the ring again for would do all in his power to recover possession of it whereas if he fled who could tell what horrors might had been promised a sum of money on payment of which he had sworn to assist the if he were disappointed in payment he would certainly revenge himself by revealing the secrets of the conspiracy to and all the inmates of could not make up his mind whether to or hasten this catastrophe but of one thing he was certain that on the night when the d was to occur he and not would be the destiny of the affair with these ideas in his mind went about with a very happy expression of face which those whom he had half decided to betray put down to satisfaction at having been the means of securing the of the major did not them on this point but chuckled to think how he would shortly hold all their lives in his hand no touch of for his proposed was in his heart but as the man was quite in a moral sense this was to be won the calm before the storm at he simply argued that as had him by keeping the ring he had a right to deceive by stealing it from him and as for the that might happen in the event of his success he never gave them a thought meanwhile encouraged by the of to the royal cause the of the princess worked hard to unite all the scattered threads of the conspiracy cardinal called at the villa and brought with him the lists of the in the provinces who had agreed to revolt against the government in support of s pretensions each of these could bring hundreds of men into the field so even though the president made a stand against the soldiers of at in a very short space of time the would arrive from far and near and the would be forced to yield to sheer strength the in of his policy sent oat messengers to all the towns villages and castles of the kingdom that the great day was approaching and so strong was the spirit in the provinces that the news of this never reached the of the being in that city they were rather contemptuous of the provinces assuming that so long as they had the capital the republic would still maintain her ground had remained faithful to this indeed might have been the case but now that he and his soldiers had gone over to the royal cause the of villa looked upon their triumph as in london knew nothing of the danger was at his very doors which said but little for his system of everywhere men in his pay were watching for signs of discontent and but secure in the certainty of their success the made no sign in any way seeing then this outward content the reported to that the cause was utterly dead and that never was the of the republic so stable it was the calm before the storm but did not know it the first intimation that there might be a conspiracy on foot came from the russian agency where it was hinted that political reasons had brought the master of villa to there was no ground for this belief but the eternal suspicions of russia made her suspect every one owing to the of the she was well aware that danger might under a seeming innocent exterior and the russian agent advised to personally visit the villa once there he could satisfy himself as to whether the inmates were at all mixed up in politics and act as he deemed best for the safety of the republic thinking over this matter came to the conclusion that it would be as well to look into it for himself and asked s opinion that cunning soldier laughed at the idea of a dull englishman mixing himself up in foreign politics and advised to call at the villa by all means if only to set his suspicions at rest at the same time he warned of the approaching the calm 