The minutes seemed very long as we waited in utter perplexity, almost in consternation. The same thought was in the mind of all of us, silently imparted by one to another in the glances we exchanged. What could have brought them from their guard of the great secret, save its discovery?
They would never have left their post while the fulfilment of their trust was possible. By some mishap, some unforeseen chance, the king"s body must have been discovered. Then the king"s death was known, and the news of it might any moment astonish and bewilder the city.
At last the door was flung open, and a servant announced the Constable of Zenda. Sapt was covered with dust and mud, and James, who entered close on his heels, was in no better plight. Evidently they had ridden hard and furiously; indeed they were still panting. Sapt, with a most perfunctory bow to the queen, came straight to where Rudolf stood.
"Is he dead?" he asked, without preface.
"Yes, Rupert is dead," answered Mr. Ra.s.sendyll: "I killed him."
"And the letter?"
"I burnt it."
"And Rischenheim?"
The queen struck in.
"The Count of Luzau-Rischenheim will say and do nothing against me," she said.
Sapt lifted his brows a little. "Well, and Bauer?" he asked.
"Bauer"s at large," I answered.
"Hum! Well, it"s only Bauer," said the constable, seeming tolerably well pleased. Then his eyes fell on Rudolf and Bernenstein. He stretched out his hand and pointed to their riding-boots. "Whither away so late at night?" he asked.
"First together to the lodge, to find you, then I alone to the frontier," said Mr. Ra.s.sendyll.
"One thing at a time. The frontier will wait. What does your Majesty want with me at the lodge?"
"I want so to contrive that I shall be no longer your Majesty," said Rudolf.
Sapt flung himself into a chair and took off his gloves.
"Come, tell me what has happened to-day in Strelsau," he said.
We gave a short and hurried account. He listened with few signs of approval or disapproval, but I thought I saw a gleam in his eyes when I described how all the city had hailed Rudolf as its king and the queen received him as her husband before the eyes of all. Again the hope and vision, shattered by Rudolf"s calm resolution, inspired me. Sapt said little, but he had the air of a man with some news in reserve. He seemed to be comparing what we told him with something already known to him but unknown to us. The little servant stood all the while in respectful stillness by the door; but I could see by a glance at his alert face that he followed the whole scene with keen attention.
At the end of the story, Rudolf turned to Sapt. "And your secret--is it safe?" he asked.
"Ay, it"s safe enough!"
"n.o.body has seen what you had to hide?"
"No; and n.o.body knows that the king is dead," answered Sapt.
"Then what brings you here?"
"Why, the same thing that was about to bring you to the lodge: the need of a meeting between yourself and me, sire."
"But the lodge--is it left unguarded?"
"The lodge is safe enough," said Colonel Sapt.
Unquestionably there was a secret, a new secret, hidden behind the curt words and brusque manner. I could restrain myself no longer, and sprang forward, saying: "What is it? Tell us, Constable!"
He looked at me, then glanced at Mr. Ra.s.sendyll.
"I should like to hear your plan first," he said to Rudolf. "How do you mean to account for your presence alive in the city to-day, when the king has lain dead in the shooting-box since last night?"
We drew close together as Rudolf began his answer. Sapt alone lay back in his chair. The queen also had resumed her seat; she seemed to pay little heed to what we said. I think that she was still engrossed with the struggle and tumult in her own soul. The sin of which she accused herself, and the joy to which her whole being sprang in a greeting which would not be abashed, were at strife between themselves, but joined hands to exclude from her mind any other thought.
"In an hour I must be gone from here," began Rudolf.
"If you wish that, it"s easy," observed Colonel Sapt.
"Come, Sapt, be reasonable," smiled Mr. Ra.s.sendyll. "Early to-morrow, we--you and I--"
"Oh, I also?" asked the colonel.
"Yes; you, Bernenstein, and I will be at the lodge."
"That"s not impossible, though I have had nearly enough riding."
Rudolf fixed his eyes firmly on Sapt"s.
"You see," he said, "the king reaches his hunting-lodge early in the morning."
"I follow you, sire."
"And what happens there, Sapt? Does he shoot himself accidentally?"
"Well, that happens sometimes."
"Or does an a.s.sa.s.sin kill him?"
"Eh, but you"ve made the best a.s.sa.s.sin unavailable."
Even at this moment I could not help smiling at the old fellow"s surly wit and Rudolf"s amused tolerance of it.
"Or does his faithful attendant, Herbert, shoot him?"
"What, make poor Herbert a murderer!"
"Oh, no! By accident--and then, in remorse, kill himself."
"That"s very pretty. But doctors have awkward views as to when a man can have shot himself."
"My good Constable, doctors have palms as well as ideas. If you fill the one you supply the other."
"I think," said Sapt, "that both the plans are good. Suppose we choose the latter, what then?"