"All I mean is that"--he paused and smiled again--"Karl is and will remain a rebel."
"I must go to Gareth now," I said.
I gave him my hand and he held it. "I am going with the news of her to the Duke; and when there I shall see--the rebel. Shall I give him any message?"
"No--except that I am glad," I answered steadily.
"That, of course; and--that he had better come as soon as he can for the reasons;" and with a last meaning glance he was leaving, when I asked him to let the Colonel know of Gareth"s serious condition.
I was full of anxiety for Gareth, and I had been so greatly wrought upon by the events of the day that, as I had a.s.sured the General, my own concerns seemed too small to care about; and yet I could not put them away from me. "Karl was a rebel; Karl was a rebel." Over and over again the words came back to me, and all that they meant, as I stood by the window at a turn of the staircase, looking out and wondering.
Yes, it had hurt me that at such a time he had left the house without waiting to see me; but--he was a rebel. He had gone at the stern old Duke"s bidding; but--he was a rebel and would come again. The Duke hated me, and as Gustav had said would never sanction our union; but then--Karl was a rebel.
The sun might shine, or the rain might fall; political plans might succeed or they might fail; great causes flourish or be overthrown; Karl was a rebel--and we should find our way after all to happiness.
Love must have its selfish moments; and to me then that was just such a moment, despite all the troubles in the house.
For Gareth we could do nothing but watch, and nurse, and wait. She was very restless; very troubled in mind as her wayward mutterings showed; very weak--like a piece of delicate mechanism suddenly over-strained and broken.
An hour later Count Gustav returned, and I went down to him. The doctor had convinced him of the seriousness of Gareth"s condition, and I was glad to find him less self-centred and more concerned for her.
"While Gareth is here, Count Gustav, there must be a truce between us,"
I said. "And she cannot possibly be moved."
"I know that now," he agreed.
"Then there must be a truce. For her sake all signs of the strife between us must be suppressed. She may ask me about you; and you about me. She has grown to care for me in the last few days; and it will help her recovery if we can make her believe the trouble that divides us all is ended. It rests with us to give her this ease of mind."
"I am not quite the brute you seem to think," he answered.
"I have my own opinion of you and am not likely to alter it--but for her sake I am willing to pretend."
"You are very frank."
"The terms of our truce are agreed, then?"
"Just as you please," he said, with a shrug.
"There is another thing to be done, somehow. Her father must be brought to agree also."
"Shall I go on my knees to him?" he sneered.
"I care not how it is done so long as it is done. But her mind is distracted by the thought of the breach between you two--and of her need to choose between you."
"That was not my doing," he rapped out.
"I see no need for a compet.i.tion as to who has done the most harm," I retorted, coldly. "The question now is how that harm can best be repaired. Gareth is very ill--but worse in mind than in body; and she will not recover unless her mind is eased."
"Not recover?" he cried, catching at the words. "There is no need to talk like that. Dr. Armheit does not take any such serious view as that."
"Could Dr. Armheit be told all the facts?"
"My G.o.d!" he cried under his breath; and turning away looked out of the window.
In the silence I heard a carriage drive up to the door. "Here is the doctor, I expect. You can tell him and get his opinion when he knows."
But it was not the doctor. It was Karl with Colonel Katona; and James Perry showed them in.
On the threshold the Colonel, catching sight of Gustav, stopped abruptly, with a very stern look, and would not have entered the room had I not gone to him and urged him.
"There is something to be done here which is above all quarrels, Colonel. You must come in, please."
"I have told him that Gareth is ill," said Karl.
"What do you mean, Miss von Dreschler?" asked the Colonel, with a very grim look at me.
I struck at once as hard as I could. "Gareth"s life is in danger, and it rests largely with you whether she shall live or die."
He pressed his lips tightly together for a moment. "In plainer terms, please."
"Dr. Armheit, who knows only that she has had a shock and has something on her mind, says that she is very ill. We who know what the cause is, know how much graver her condition really is. He will tell you that her chances of recovery depend upon her ease of mind; and that ease of mind can only be secured in one way. It rests with you for one and Count Gustav for the other, to secure it and save her."
He began to see my meaning and he glanced with an angry scowl at Gustav who, I am bound to say, returned the look with interest. Neither spoke, but waited for me to finish.
"I have just arranged a truce with Count Gustav to last until Gareth is strong enough to be told the facts. You two must do the same."
The Colonel drew himself up stiffly and shook his head, and Gustav quick to take fire, was about to burst in, when I continued: "Are you to think of Gareth or of yourselves? Is she to die that you may glower at one another in your selfish pa.s.sion? Will it profit either of you to know that her life was sacrificed because you could not mask your tempers over her sick bed? Is this what you call love for her? You, her father; and you, her husband?"
I was beginning to win. I saw that from the slight change in the bearing of both. Hot indignation began to give place to mutual sullenness. "It is your quarrel which may kill her; your apparent reconciliation that may save her. Her mind is restless, fevered, and distraught with the horror of the cruel choice which you, her father, laid upon her. You can hear it in every murmur of her half-delirious fever as she lies tossing now. The terror of you, love born as it is, will kill her unless together you two can succeed in removing it."
With a groan the Colonel fell on to a chair and covered his face with his hands, while Gustav turned back again to the window.
I was winning fast now, and I went on confidently: "You can see this now, I hope. What I would have you do is to wait here until she is calmer, and then together go to her, and let her see for herself that the fear which haunts her is groundless. Let your hate and your quarrel stay outside her room; do your utmost while you are inside to make her feel and believe that you are reconciled. That will do more to win her back to health and strength than all the doctors and nurses in the empire. The trouble is in the mind, not the body. Happiness may save, where misery will kill her."
Neither answered, and in the pause some one knocked at the door. It was Mrs. Perry, come to tell me that Gareth was calmer and conscious, and was asking for me.
I told them the good news and added: "May I go and tell her you are both here waiting to see her--together?"
Neither would be the first to give way.
"I will take the risk," I said. "I will go and tell her, and then whichever of you refuses shall have the responsibility;" and without giving them time to answer I went upstairs to Gareth.
She was looking woefully wan and ill, her face almost as colourless as the linen on which she lay. She welcomed me with a smile and whispered my name as I bent and kissed her.
"I am feeling so weak, Christabel," she murmured. "Am I really ill?
Or why am I here?"
"Not ill, dearest--but not quite well. That is all; and I have such news for you that it will soon make you quite well."
Her sensitive face clouded and her lips twitched nervously. "About Karl--I mean Gustav,--and--oh, I remember," and clasping her hands to her face turned away trembling.