Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-06-28
-
do you nnd," / asked, "any men-
ton Of certain fracas?"

hlghne3s the Duke of Strelsau lett the
city $50 far as it appears, suddenly,
accompanied by several of his house
hold. His destination is believed to be
the castle of Zenda, but the party
Travelled by road. and not by train.
NM. De Gautet. Bersonin and Detch-
ard followed an hour later, the last
named carrying his arm In sling.
The cause Of his wound Is not known,
but 1t is suspected that he has fought
duel. probably incidental to love
affair."" 49,
"That Is remotely true" / observed,
very we'll pleased to find that l had
left my mark on the fellow.
"Then we come to this" pursued
Sapt: "Mme. de Mauban, whose move
ments have been watched according
to instructions, left by train at mid
day. She took ticket for Dresden -
cts AN old habit of hers" said I.
"The Dresden trains stop at Zen
da.' An acute fellow, this. And final
~ listen to this: The state of feeling
in the city Is not satisfactory. The
king Is much criticised you know
he's told to be quite frank for taking
no steps about his marriage. From in
.quiries among the encourage OF the
Princess Flavia her royal highness Is
believed to be deeply offended by the
remissness of his majesty. The COM
mon people are coupling her name
with that Of the Duke of Strelsau,
and the duke gains much popularity
from the suggestion. have caused
the announcement that the king gives
"a ball tonight IN honor Of the princess
to be widely diffused, and the effect
is good.
"That Is news to me-" said /.
"Oh, the preparations are all made"
laughed Fritz. 1--WE seen to that"
Sapt turned to me and said In a
sharp, decisive voice:
"You must make love to her tonight,
you know"
~ think it very likely 1 shall If see
her alone,7 said L. "Hang it, Sapt, you
don't suppose / find it difficult?'
Fritz whistled bar or two; then he
said: you'll find it only too easy.
Look here, hate telling you this, but l
must The Countess Helga told me
that the princess had become most at
tached to the king. Since the corona
ton her feelings have undergone a
marked development. It's quite true
that she is deeply wounded by the
kings apparent neglect"
"Here's a kettle of fishr' 1 groaned.
'.Tut, tutp' said Sapt. II suppose
you've made pretty speeches to a girl
before now. That's all she wants"
Fritz, himself lover, understood bet
ter my distress. He laid his hand on
my shoulder, but said nothing.
81 think, though" pursued that cold
blooded old Sapt, "that you'd better
make your offer tonight"
"Good heavens"
"Or, at any rate, 60 near to 1t, and L
shall send a semiofficial to the papers"
"Tll do nothing of the sort-no more
will your said 1. 81 utterly refuse to
take part in making fool of the prin-
cess"
Sapt looked at me with his small
keen eyes. A slow, cunning smile pass
ed over his face.
"All right lad; all right" said ne.
I'VE mustn't press you too hard.
Soothe her down bit, II you can, you
know. Now for Michael!'
"Oh. hang Michaelv' said l. Hell
do tomorrow Here, Fritz, come for a
stroll in the garden"
Sapt at once yielded. His rough
manner covered wonderful tact ana,
as / came to recognize more and more,
q remarkable knowledge of human ma
! ture. Why did he urge me so little
about the princess? Because he knew
that her beauty and my ardor would
carry me further than all his argu-
ments and that the less / thought
about the thing the more likely was
to do it. He must have seen the I'M
happiness he might bring on the prin-
cess, but that went for nothing Win
him. Can L say confidently that he
was wrong? If the king were restor-
ed, the princess must turn to him,
either knowing Oh not knowing the
change. And if the king were not re-
stored to us? 1t was a subject that
we had never yet spoken of. But l
had an idea that in such case Sapt
meant to seat me on the throne OF
| Ruritana for the term Of my life. He
would have set Satan himself there
sooner than that pupil of his, Black
Michael.
| The ball was a sumptuous affair."
| opened it by dancing quadrille with
Flavia. Then / waltzed with her.
Curious eyes and eager whispers at
tended us. We went in to supper, and
halfway through 1, half mad by then,
for her glance had answered mine and
her quick breathing met my stammer'
ed sentences, rose in my place before
all the brilliant crowd and, taking the
red rose that wore, flung the ribbon
with It's jeweled badge round her neck.
In tumult of applause / sat down.
| saw Sapt smiling over his wine and
Fritz frowning The rest Of the meal
passed In silence; neither Flavia nor
/ could speak. Fritz touched me on
the shoulder, and rose, gave her my
arm and walked down the hall into a
little room, where coffee was served to
u.s. The gentlemen and ladies In at
tendance withdrew, and we were
| alone.
The little room had French windows
opening on the gardens. The night
was fine, cool and fragrant. Flavia
sat down, and stood opposite her.