"How do you do?" said Mr. Blithers. "Glad to see you again." His voice sounded unnatural. He extended his hand.
Dank gave him a ceremonious salute, bowed slightly but without a smile, and then threw open the door.
"Mr. Blithers, my lords," he announced, and stood aside to let the stranger in a strange land pa.s.s within.
A number of men were seated about a long table in the centre of this imposing chamber. No one arose as Mr. Blithers entered the room and stopped just inside the door. He heard it close gently behind him. He was at a loss for the first time in his life. He didn"t know whether he was to stop just inside the door fingering his hat like a messenger boy, or go forward and join the group. His gaze fell upon a huge oaken chair at the far end of the table. It was the only unoccupied seat that came within the scope of his rather limited vision. He could not see anything beyond the table and the impa.s.sive group that surrounded it. Was it possible that the big chair was intended for him? If so, how small and insignificant he would look upon it. He had a ghastly notion that his feet would not touch the floor, and he went so far as to venture the hope that there would be a substantial round somewhere about midway from the bottom.
He had appeared before the inquisitorial committees in the United States Senate, and had not been oppressed by the ponderous gravity of the investigation. He had faced the Senators without a tremor of awe.
He had even regarded them with a confidence, equal if not superior to their own. But now he faced a calm, impa.s.sive group of men who seemed to strip him down to the flesh with a cool, piercing interest, and who were in no sense impressed by what they saw.
Despite his nervousness he responded to the life long habit of calculation. He counted the units in the group in a single, rapid glance, and found that there were eleven. Eleven lords of the realm!
Eleven stern, dignified, unsmiling strangers to the arrogance of William W. Blithers! Something told him at once that he could not spend an informal half-hour with them. Grim, striking, serious visages, all of them! The last hope for his well-fed American humour flickered and died. He knew that it would never do to regale them in an informal off-hand way--as he had planned--with examples of native wit.
Reverting to the precise moment of his entrance to the Castle, we find Mr. Blithers saying to himself that there wasn"t the slightest use in even hoping that he might be invited to transfer his lodgings from the Regengetz to the Royal bed-chambers. The chance of being invited to dine there seemed to dwindle as well. While he sat and waited in the first antechamber he even experienced strange misgivings in respect to parental privileges later on.
After what appeared to him to be an interminable length of time, but in reality no more than a few seconds, a tall man arose from his seat and advanced with outstretched hand. Mr. Blithers recognised Count Quinnox, the Minister of War. He shook that friendly hand with a fervour that must have surprised the Count. Never in all his life had he been so glad to see any one.
"How are you, my lord," said the king of finance, fairly meek with gratefulness.
"Excellently well, Mr. Blithers," returned the Count. "And you?"
"Never better, never better," said Mr. Blithers, again pumping the Count"s hand up and down--with even greater heartiness than before.
"Glad to see you. Isn"t it a pleasant day? I was telling Mrs.
Blithers this morning that I"d never seen a pleasanter day. We--"
"Let me introduce you to my colleagues, Mr. Blithers," interrupted the Count.
"Happy, I"m sure," mumbled Mr. Blithers. To save his life, he couldn"t tell what had got into him. He had never acted like this before.
The Count was mentioning the names of dukes, counts and barons, and Mr. Blithers was bowing profoundly to each in turn. No one offered to shake hands with him, although each rose politely, even graciously.
They even smiled. He remembered that very well afterwards. They smiled kindly, almost benignly. He suddenly realised what had got into him. It was respect.
"A chair, Franz," said the white haired, gaunt man who was called Baron Romano. "Will you sit here, Mr. Blithers? Pray forgive our delay in admitting you. We were engaged in a rather serious discussion over--"
"Oh, that"s all right," said Mr. Blithers, magnanimously. "Am I interfering with any important business, gent--my lords? If so, just-- "
"Not at all, Mr. Blithers. Pray be seated."
"Sure I"m not taking any one"s seat?"
"A secretary"s, sir. He can readily find another."
Mr. Blithers sat down. He was rather pleased to find that the big chair was not meant for him. A swift intuition told him that it was reserved for the country"s ruler.
"The Prince signed the contracts just before you arrived, Mr.
Blithers," said Baron Romano. "The seal has been affixed to each of the doc.u.ments, and your copy is ready for delivery at any time."
Mr. Blithers recovered himself slightly. "You may send it to the hotel, Baron, at any time to-morrow. My lawyers will have a look at it." Then he made haste to explain: "Not that it is really necessary, but just as a matter of form. Besides, it gives the lawyers something to do." He sent an investigating glance around the room.
"The Prince has retired," said the Baron, divining the thought. "He does not remain for the discussions." Glancing at the huge old clock above the door, the Prime Minister a.s.sumed a most business-like air.
"It will doubtless gratify you to know that three-fourths of the bonds have been deposited, Mr. Blithers, and the remainder will be gathered in during the week. Holders living in remote corners of our country have not as yet been able to reach us with their securities.
A week will give them sufficient time, will it not, Count Lazzar?"
"I may safely say that all the bonds will be in our hands by next Tuesday at the latest," said the Minister of the Treasury. He was a thin, ascetic man; his keen eyes were fixed rather steadily upon Mr.
Blithers. After a moment"s pause, he went on: "We are naturally interested in your extensive purchases of our outstanding bonds, Mr.
Blithers. I refer to the big blocks you have acquired in London, Paris and Berlin."
"Want to know what I bought them for?" inquired Mr. Blithers amiably.
"We have wondered not a little at your readiness to invest such a fortune in our securities."
"Well, there you have it. Investment, that"s all. Your credit is sound, and your resources unquestioned, your bonds gilt-edge. I am glad of the opportunity to take a few dollars out of Wall Street uncertainties and put "em into something absolutely certain. Groo-- Gras--er--Groostock bonds are pretty safe things to have lying in a safety vault in these times of financial unrest. They create a pretty solid fortune for my family,--that is to say, for my daughter and her children. A sensible business man,--and I claim to be one,--looks ahead, my lords. Railroads are all right as long as you are alive and can run them yourself. It"s after you are dead that they fail to do what is expected of them. New fingers get into the pie, and you never can tell what they"ll pull out in their greediness. I cannot imagine anything safer in the shape of an investment than the bonds of a nation that has a debt of less than fifty million dollars. As a citizen of a republic whose national debt is nearly a billion, I confess that I can"t see how you"ve managed so well."
"We are so infinitesimal, Mr. Blithers, that I daresay we could be lost in the smallest of your states," said Baron Romano, with a smile.
"Rhode Island is pretty small," Mr. Blithers informed him, without a smile.
"It is most gratifying to Graustark to know that you value our securities so highly as a legacy," said Count Lazzar, suavely. "May I venture the hope, however, that your life may be prolonged beyond the term of their existence? They expire in a very few years--a dozen, in fact."
"Oh, I think I can hang on that long," said Mr. Blithers, a little more at ease. He was saying to himself that these fellows were not so bad, after all. "Still one never knows. I may be dead in a year. My daughter--but, of course, you will pardon me if I don"t go into my private affairs. I fear I have already said too much."
"On the contrary, sir, we are all only too willing to be edified. The workings of an intelligence such as jours cannot fail to be of interest to us who are so lacking in the power to cope with great undertakings. I confess to a selfish motive in asking you about your methods of--er--investment," said the Minister of Finance. Mr.
Blithers failed to see that he was shrewdly being led up to a matter that was of more importance to Graustark just then than anything along financial lines.
"I am only too willing, my lords, to give you the benefit of my experience. Any questions that you may care to ask, I"ll be glad to answer to the best of my ability. It is only natural that I should take a great personal interest in Graustock from now on. I want to see the country on the boom. I want to see it taking advantage of all the opportunities that--er--come its way. There may be a few pointers that William W. Blithers can give you in respect to your railways and mines--and your general policy, perhaps. I hope you won"t hesitate about asking."
The Prime Minister tapped reflectively upon the table-top with his fingers for a moment or two.
"Thank you," he said. "We are at this very moment in something of a quandary in respect to the renewal of a treaty with one of our neighbours. For the past twenty years we have been in alliance with our next door neighbours, Axphain on the north and Dawsbergen on the south and east. The triple alliance will end this year unless renewed. Up to the present our relations have been most amiable.
Axphain stands ready to extend our mutual protective agreement for another term of years, but Dawsbergen is lukewarm and inclined to withdraw. When you become better acquainted with the politics of our country you will understand how regrettable such an action on the part of a hitherto friendly government will be."
"What"s the grievance?" inquired Mr. Blithers, bluntly. He was edging into familiar waters now. "What"s the matter with Dawsbergen? Money controversy?"
"Not at all," said Lazzar hastily.
"Why not let "em withdraw?" said Mr. Blithers. "We can get along without them."
There was a general uplifting of heads at the use of the p.r.o.noun, and a more fixed concentration of gaze.
"I daresay you are already acquainted with the desire on the part of Dawsbergen to form an alliance in which Axphain can have no part,"
said Baron Romano. "In other words, it has been the desire of both Dawsbergen and Graustark to perfect a matrimonial alliance that may cement the fortunes of the two countries--"
"Count Quinnox mentioned something of the sort," interrupted Mr.
Blithers. "But suppose this matrimonial alliance doesn"t come off, who would be the sufferer, you or Dawsbergen? Who will it benefit the most?"
There was a moment"s silence. Doubtless it had never occurred to the Ministry to speculate on the point.
"Dawsbergen is a rich, powerful country," said Romano. "We will be the gainers by such an alliance. Mr. Blithers."