Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-10-05
A ROYAL. ROMANCE.


brilliant with many lights, and the vast
salons were througed. His majesty,
the enlightened and popular King sig
ismlnd was that night in one Of his
best moods ana had been heard to
speak In complimentary fashion TO
Prince Paul, the heir to the thron ,,
about the performance which had
taken place an hour earlier Of lie Roi
Ia dit"
1T is fine" he said. Decidedly it
Is fine have greatly enjoyed It"
The prince had merely colily acqui-
esced in the remark and the king had
Chlded him sharply on his want Of on
thuslasm.
what ails you" asked The king
you are moody and sad, and this Is
a time 10 put away sad thoughts" And
then the prince, after % moments hes
itatlon, hnd said something which
mace the king start angrily
1T IL the truth, sire" said Paul,
earnestly. TT is with me an affair Of
lIfo and DEATH
The truth, you say?" calculated
the monarch. NO, no; not, maybe,
the real truth but only n boys whlm."
"On my life, sire, IL Is rs yentured
to tell you ! cannot give her up"
was the folvcnt response.
And then, whilst the aristoCraIic
and brilliant nasomblGRe in the royal
palace was dancing. his majesty put
his hand affectlonately on the young
mans arm and drew him away into
an ante.room.
"'rell me more" he began, kindly, AZ
he sat down on diyan. "Don't be
hasty am father, although | am
n king"
For answer tho prince dropped on
ono knee before the king "Thcfe ~
nothing more 10 tell you, sire. only
that love her deeply. that shall nj.
ways love her, that ! cannot live with
out her, that she IN with me wherever
Bo--in the city ways, In the forest,
on the battlefield during the last war"
The king looked thoughtful and sad
and then he extended his right hand.
Rise" he suid. sit down there IN
front Of me- and he indicated n chair.
You viii listen, strc?" said the
young man, implorIngly. you viii
realize what II means TO me?"
Tho king rose and took q step or
two MP and down the apartment with
his hands behind his back.
Listen" he said, musinBly why"
-~And he faced the prince suddenly
II would rather listen to that music
than to those words Of yours. |
thought you had forgotten"
The prince made despairing gos,
mro and the king shook his head,
Marry Mile XenIn, the actress" he
said. muslngly. why, 1t would make
our court a lnugning stock aud in
these days Is II not necessary jealousy
assi6uously than Of old? | cannot ar
que with you, You must De brave.
YOU must forget there ID no other way
there is no other way You must
tell her that all IL at an end"
but, sire, If you would see her."
exclaimed the prince In despairlng
tone
Il did see her" was the grave reply,
"And----"
She acted CharminGly, and she
rides we'll hear, for they tellme that
you ana She have been seen In tho
park Of morning. oh, she played
well this evening and sang better
yes. certainly she sang better But
one can admire nightingale and then
so on ones way Come, come, you
must see that 1t is useless. She Is an
ornament to our court. and moro than
that, maybe, but she Is no wife for the
heir to the throne Iou do not belong
to Yourself, but To your country, to
your family The world would laugh.
London, Vienna, Paris. st, Petersburg
would be vastly amused, and con.
tinuod the king, rs he walked TO The
eud Of the apartment and raised the
curtain, 1T IL not my wish to provide
amusement for London, Pais, or ST.
Petersburg, to say nothing of Vienna, :
and he walked out of the salon and
proceeded toward tho ballroom
but he stopped half way and mo-
toned to chamberlain to approach
him.
Tell Mile. Xenia." he said to that
fuuctionary, that l wish to speak to
her" And rs the chamberlain retired
with low bow his majesty turned
and exchanged a laughing word with a
courtier who stood near.
A minute later, as Mile. Nenia ap-
preached, the king could do nothing
but admire. She was a representative
Of that ethereal Saxon loveliness which
the painters of the north have typihed,
and as she made deep curtsey the
king sighed deeply at thought which
flashed through his mind.
II wished" he said, TO compliment
YOU"
Your majesty Is too good, replied
The girl, TREMENDOUSLY.
Tell me-" went on the king, and
there was ring of sympathy in his