"Well, I "m not so sure they "ll take the same comfortable view of it that you do, Sir Horace," said Stubber; "nor can I see who can possibly want livery stables, or smart bonnets, or even a fine butler, when the resources of the Court are withdrawn, and the city left to its own devices."
"Stubber suspects," said Upton, "that the policy which prevails amongst our great landed proprietors against small holdings is that which at present influences the larger states of Europe against small kingdoms; and so far he is right. It is unquestionably the notion of our day that the influences of government require s.p.a.ce for their exercise."
"If the happiness of the people was to be thought of, which of course it is not," said Stubber, "I"d say leave them as they are."
"Ah, my dear Stubber, you are now drawing the question into the realm of the imaginary. What do any of us know about our happiness?"
"Enough to eat and drink, a comfortable roof over you, good clothes, nothing oppressive or unequal in the laws,--these go for a good way in the kind of thing I mean; and let me observe, sir, it is a great privilege little states, like little people, enjoy, that they need have no ambitions. They don"t want to conquer anybody; they neither ask for the mouth of a river here, or an island there; and if only let alone, they "ll never disturb the peace of the world at large."
"My dear Stubber, you are quite a proficient at state-craft," said Upton, with the very least superciliousness in the accent.
"Well, I don"t know, Sir Horace," said the other, modestly, "but as my master"s means are about the double of what they were when I entered his service, and as the people pay about one-sixth less in taxes than they used to do, mayhap I might say that I have put the saddle on the right part of the back."
"Your foreign policy does not seem quite as un.o.bjectionable as your home management. That was an ugly business about that boy you gave up to the Austrians."
"Well, there were mistakes on all sides. You yourself, Sir Horace, gave him a false pa.s.sport; his real name turns out to be Ma.s.sy: it made an impression on me, from a circ.u.mstance that happened when I was a young fellow living as pad-groom with Prince Tottskoy. I went over on a lark one day to Capri, and was witness to a wedding there of a young Englishman called Ma.s.sy."
"Were you, then, present at the ceremony?"
"Yes, sir; and what"s stranger still, I have a voucher for it."
"A voucher for it. What do you mean?"
"It was this way, sir. There was a great supper for the country people and the servants, and I was there, and I suppose I took too much of that Capri wine; it was new and hot at the time, and I got into a row of some sort, and I beat the Deputato from some place or t" other, and got locked up for three days; and the priest, a very jolly fellow, gave me under his handwriting a voucher that I had been a witness of the marriage, and all the festivities afterwards, just to show my master how everything happened. But the Prince never asked me for any explanations, and only said he "hoped I had amused myself well;" and so I kept my voucher to myself, and I have it at this very hour."
"Will you let me see it, Stubber?"
"To be sure, sir, you shall have it, if I can lay my hand on "t in the course of the day."
"Let me beg you will go at once and search for it; it may be of more importance than you know of. Go, my dear Stubber, and look it up."
"I"ll not lose a moment, since you wish to have it," said Stubber; "and I am sure your ladyship will excuse my abrupt departure."
The Princess a.s.sured him that her own interest in the doc.u.ment was not inferior to that of Sir Horace, and he hastened off to prosecute his search.
"Here, then, are all my plans altered at once," exclaimed she, as the door closed after him. "If this paper mean only as much as he a.s.serts, it will be ample proof of marriage, and lead us to the knowledge of all those who were present at it."
"Yet must we well reflect on the use we make of it," said Upton.
"Glencore is now evidently balancing what course to take. As his chances of recovery grow less each day, he seems to incline more and more to repair the wrong he has done. Should we show on our side the merest semblance of compulsion, I would not answer for him."
"So that we have the power, as a last resource, I am content to diplomatize," said the Princess; "but you must see him this evening, and press for a decision."
"He has already asked me to come to him after we return from Court. It will be late, but it is the hour at which he likes best to talk. If I see occasion for it, I can allude to what Stubber has told us; but it will be only if driven by necessity to it."
"I would act more boldly and more promptly," said she.
"And rouse an opposition, perhaps, that already is becoming dormant. No, I know Glencore well, and will deal with him more patiently."
"From the Chevalier Stubber, your Excellency," said a servant, presenting a sealed packet; and Sir Horace opened it at once. The envelope contained a small and shabby slip of paper, of which the writing appeared faint and indistinct. It was dated 18--, Church of St. Lorenzo, Capri, and went to certify that Guglielmo Stubber had been present, on the morning of the 18th August, at the marriage of the Most n.o.ble Signor Ma.s.sy with the Princess de la Torre, having in quality as witness signed the registry thereof; and then went on to state the circ.u.mstance of his attendance at the supper, and the event which ensued. It bore the name of the writer at foot, Basilio Nardoni, priest of the aforesaid church and village.
"Little is Glencore aware that such an evidence as this is in existence," said Upton. "The conviction that he had his vengeance in his power led him into this insane project. He fancied there was not a flaw in that terrible indictment; and see, here is enough to open the door to truth, and undo every detail of all his plotting. How strange is it that the events of life should so often concur to expose the dark schemes of men"s hearts; proofs starting up in un-thought-of places, as though to show how vain was mere subtlety in conflict with the inevitable law of Fate."
"This Basilio Nardoni is an acquaintance of mine," said the Princess, bent on pursuing another train of thought; "he was chaplain to the Cardinal Caraffa, and frequently brought me communications from his Eminence. He can be found, if wanted."
"It is unlikely--most unlikely--that we shall require him."
"If you mean that Lord Glencore will himself make all the amends he can for a gross injury and a fraud, no more is necessary," said she, folding the paper, and placing it in her pocket-book; "but if anything short of this be intended, then there is no exposure too open, no publicity too wide, to be given to the most cruel wrong the world has ever heard of."
"Leave me to deal with Glencore. I think I am about the only one who can treat with him."
"And now for this dinner at Court, for I have changed my mind, and mean to go," said the Princess. "It is full time to dress, I believe."
"It is almost six o"clock," said Upton, starting up. "We have quite forgotten ourselves."
CHAPTER LI. CONFLICTING THOUGHTS
The Princess Sabloukoff found--not by any means an unfrequent experience in life--that the dinner, whose dulness she had dreaded, turned out a very pleasant affair. The Prince was unusually gracious. He was in good spirits, and put forth powers of agreeability which had been successful in one of less distinction than himself. He possessed eminently, what a great orator once panegyrized as a high conversational element, "great variety," and could without abruptness pa.s.s from subject to subject, with always what showed he had bestowed thought upon the theme before him. Great people have few more enviable privileges than that they choose their own topics for conversation. Nothing disagreeable, nothing wearisome, nothing inopportune, can be intruded upon them. When they have no longer anything worth saying, they can change the subject or the company.
His Highness talked with Madame de Sabloukoff on questions of state as he might have talked with a Metternich; he even invited from her expressions of opinion that were almost counsels, sentiments that might pa.s.s for warnings. He ranged over the news of the day, relating occasionally some little anecdote, every actor in which was a celebrity; or now and then communicating some piece of valueless secrecy, told with all the mystery of a "great fact;" and then he discussed with Upton the condition of England, and deplored, as all Continental rulers do, the impending downfall of that kingdom, from the growing force of our restless and daring democracy. He regretted much that Sir Horace was not still in office, but consoled himself by reflecting that the pleasure he enjoyed in his society had been in that case denied him. In fact, what with insinuated flatteries, little signs of confidence, and a most marked tone of cordiality, purposely meant to strike beholders, the Prince conducted the conversation right royally, and played "Highness"
to perfection.
And these two crafty, keen-sighted people, did they not smile at the performance, and did they not, as they drove home at night, amuse themselves as they recounted the little traits of the great man"s dupery? Not a bit of it. They were charmed with his gracious manner, and actually enchanted with his agreeability. Strong in their self-esteem, they could not be brought to suspect that any artifice could be practised on _them_, or that the mere trickery and tinsel of high station could be imposed on them as true value. Nay, they even went further, and discovered that his Highness was really a very remarkable man, and one who received far less than the estimation due to him. His flightiness became versatility; his eccentricity was all originalty; and ere they reached the hotel, they had endowed him with almost every moral and mental quality that can dignify manhood.
"It is really a magnificent turquoise," said the Princess, gazing with admiration at a ring the Prince had taken from his own finger to present to her.
"How absurd is that English jealousy about foreign decorations! I was obliged to decline the Red Cross of Ma.s.sa which his Highness proposed to confer on me. A monarchy that wants to emulate a republic is simply ridiculous."
"You English are obliged to pay dear for your hypocrisies; and you ought, for you really love them." And with this taunt the carriage stopped at the door of the inn.
As Upton pa.s.sed up the stairs, the waiter handed him a note, which he hastily opened; it was from Glencore, and in these words:--
Dear Upton,--I can bear this suspense no longer; to remain here canva.s.sing with myself all the doubts that beset me is a torture I cannot endure. I leave, therefore, at once for Florence. Once there,--where I mean to see and hear for myself,--I can decide what is to be the fate of the few days or weeks that yet remain to--Yours,
Glencore.
"He is gone, then,--his Lordship has started?"
"Yes, your Excellency, he is by this time near Lucca, for he gave orders to have horses ready at all the stations."
"Read that, madame," said Upton, as he once more found himself alone with the Princess; "you will see that all your plans are disconcerted.
He is off to Florence."
Madame de Sabloukoff read the note, and threw it carelessly on the table. "He wants to forgive himself, and only hesitates how to do so gracefully," said she, sneeringly.
"I think you are less than just to him," said Upton, mildly; "his is a n.o.ble nature, disfigured by one grand defect."