"What news? What news?" she cried, springing up.
"The worst, Countess."
"Dead?"
"No; the Princess lives."
"Yes, yes; and those who are with her?"
"Are on their way to the city," Dumitru answered. "We could not enter openly; we had to delay, and exercise the greatest care. Baron Petrescu will come to-night if possible, but extreme caution is needed. I came on. I am of no importance and pa.s.s unnoticed. I have visited a score of places in the city already, and I have much more to do before sunset."
"Does Captain Ellerey return to Sturatzberg?" asked Frina thoughtfully.
"Aye; and he is a man whose equal these eyes are never likely to see again. He is fit to be a king."
"A king!"
"Yes, a king, and though he be a foreigner, I for one shout for him."
"A king, Dumitru; tell me, does he love the Princess?"
"Surely he must, since for her cause he has shown no great affection.
He will be here to strike one more good blow for her, and, loving her, may learn to love her cause too. We may yet triumph, Countess. But listen. The Princess has been delivered by the brigands," and Dumitru told her the whole story quickly. "To-night she will be brought back to Sturatzberg," he went on, "although it is given out that she will not come until the morning. The gates will be shut, and when the streets are quiet they will be opened again. Not many soldiers are with her, and those within the gates will hold all danger cheap. The city will be hushed and still, but there are many who will not sleep. A signal will blaze forth in the darkness and a few may fall in the streets, but the Princess will be free. You will be ready to receive her, Countess?"
"Here?"
"Is it not the safest refuge in Sturatzberg?" asked Dumitru. "There are hiding-places here, and you are not a suspect in the city."
"And afterward?" said the Countess.
"I know not. A small success in the city would perhaps raise the country; the afterward is for the Princess to decide. She will have to consider the welfare of those who strike to-night. You will be ready to receive her, Countess?"
"Yes," Frina answered, and Dumitru went to pursue his way through the city, calling men to arm and prepare, little dreaming what thoughts troubled the beautiful woman he had left.
The frail little hopes she had found consolation in vanished at Dumitru"s words. Desmond Ellerey loved Maritza. Dumitru had said it, and had he not had ample opportunity of judging? Now Maritza was to come a fugitive to her house; her very life perhaps lay in her hands.
How easy it would be to speak the few words which would tell her enemies where she was hidden, and who would know, who would guess, that it was the Countess Mavrodin who had betrayed her? Such specious arguments did the evil that was in her whisper in her ear, and she could not shut the whisperings out. All day long her restlessness increased. Her solitude became unbearable. She longed for the world of men and women, hungered to hear laughter and the sound of voices--anything to distract her from her thoughts. That evening she went to Court, beautiful, reckless, heartless to all seeming, ready to be flattered and to flatter--a dangerous mood for such a woman to be in.
So, all unconsciously, she was driven forward by destiny. She was in a mood to be tempted, and the greatest temptation of all was lying in wait for her.
She had shown such marked preference for Captain Ellerey when he came to Court that a host of her admirers had perforce to stand sullenly aside. To-night they gathered round her, each one in his turn receiving some little favor which buried in oblivion all past disappointments; such virtue lies even in the least of a beautiful woman"s favors. Frina Mavrodin had always had the subtle power of making her companion of the moment believe that he was the one person in all the world she would wish to have beside her, and this power she exercised to the full to-night.
Lord Cloverton, covertly watching her, was constrained to admire her, and even his old blood tingled with a remembrance of youth as he did so. But he did not approach her. It was not his part to play the tempter to-night. He had arranged otherwise. Presently he saw the King enter the room alone, and look round in search of some one. His eye fell upon Frina Mavrodin, and he went toward her. Perhaps, too, in his veins the blood tingled a little.
"An hour of ease which so seldom falls to me renews my strength to-night, Countess, and youth and beauty draw me like a lodestone," said the King.
"Your Majesty is pleased to flatter me," she answered with a sweeping curtsey.
"That would indeed be impossible. I am honored, doubly so, if you will take my hand in the dance."
It was a set dance, stately in its measure, and those who watched remarked how the grace of the woman seemed to lend grace to the King"s movements, who danced but seldom, and that, in truth, somewhat awkwardly.
The King thanked her as he led her to a seat when the dance was over.
It was in the alcove where she had so often sat with Ellerey, and the coincidence impressed her.
"There should be brighter times at hand for Wallaria, Countess," said the King. "The Princess Maritza will enter Sturatzberg--a prisoner--to-morrow."
"So I have heard, your Majesty."
"And you loyally rejoice with us, Countess?"
The question was so marked in the intonation of the King"s voice that Frina Mavrodin was on her guard in a moment. "She is a woman, your Majesty, and, since I am no politician, I pity the woman."
"I am not without pity, either, Countess," was the answer. "The Princess has been ill-advised, and the onus lies with those who have advised and supported her. It is upon them punishment should rightly fall."
"And who are they?" asked the Countess.
"That is a question to which there is no complete answer," said the King. "There is only one I can name definitely. But there is one person in Sturatzberg who could answer the question, so I am informed, and so I believe."
"And he will not answer?"
"She has not yet been asked," the King returned.
"A woman, your Majesty?"
"A very beautiful woman; yourself, Countess."
Perhaps Frina Mavrodin was prepared for the King"s words. She did not start, the color did not rise to her cheeks. She remained silent for a few moments, feeling that the King"s eyes were fixed upon her.
"I can guess who was your Majesty"s informant," she said quietly. "Lord Cloverton. He has always credited me with a power I do not possess, and has often set traps for me. They were subtly hidden, well devised to catch a schemer; but, being innocent, they failed to ensnare me."
"We ourselves have eyes, Countess; it is not necessary that the British Amba.s.sador should see for us."
"No, your Majesty; but we, the Court, sometimes fancy that he attempts to take that duty upon himself," Frina answered.
"Then you will not help me, Countess?" said the King with a smile.
"In any way I can, your Majesty."
"But not in the way I want. It is a pity. You will force me to harsh measures. There is one other I may constrain to tell me, unless he values his secret more than life."
Frina looked at him, a question in her eyes, but her lips gave it no words.
"A brave man," said the King, "although circ.u.mstances have made him my enemy. You might save him."
Still Frina was silent.
"Probably Captain Ellerey will not speak, therefore it is certain that Captain Ellerey must die," said the King slowly.