"He says that his name is Scharfenstein," continued the princess, "and he has proved himself to be a courteous gentleman."
Max found that the room wasn"t so chill as it might have been.
"Yet you eloped with him, and were on the way to Dresden," suggested the duke pointedly.
The princess faced them all proudly. "I eloped with no man. That was simply a little prevarication to worry you, my uncle, after the manner in which you have worried me. I was on my way to Dresden, it is true, but only to hide with my old governess. This gentleman jumped into my compartment as the train drew out of the station."
"But you _knew_ him!" bawled the prince, waving his arms.
"Do you know him?" asked the duke coldly.
"I met him out riding. He addressed me, and I replied out of common politeness,"--with a sidelong glance at Max, who stood with folded arms, watching her gravely.
The duke threw his hands above his head as if to call Heaven to witness that he was a very much wronged man.
"Arnheim," he said to the young colonel, "go at once for a priest."
"A priest!" echoed the prince.
"Yes; the girl shall marry you to-night," declared his serene Highness.
"Not if I live to be a thousand!" Doppelkinn struck the table with his fist.
The girl smiled at Max.
"What?" cried the duke, all the coldness gone from his tones. "You refuse?" He was thunderstruck.
"Refuse? Of course I refuse!" And the prince thumped the table again.
"What do you think I am in my old age,--an a.s.s? If you have any fillies to break, use your own pastures. I"m a vintner." He banged the table yet again. "Why, I wouldn"t marry the Princess Hildegarde if she was the last woman on earth!"
"Thank you!" said the princess sweetly.
"You"re welcome," said the prince.
"Silence!" bellowed the duke. "Doppelkinn, take care; this is an affront, not one to be lightly ignored. It is international news that you are to wed my niece."
"To-morrow it will be international news that I"m _not_!" The emphasis this time threatened to crack the table-leaf. "I"m not going to risk my liberty with a girl who has no more sense of dignity than she has."
"It is very kind of you," murmured the princess.
"She"d make a fine wife," went on the prince, ignoring the interruption. "No, a thousand times no! Take her away--life"s too short; take her away! Let her marry the fellow; he"s young and may get over it."
The duke was furious. He looked around for something to strike, and nothing but the table being convenient, he smashed a leaf and sent a vase clattering to the floor. He was stronger than the prince, otherwise there wouldn"t have been a table to thwack.
"That"s right; go on! Break all the furniture, if it will do you any good; but mark me, you"ll foot the bill." The prince began to dance around. "I will not marry the girl. That"s as final as I can make it.
The sooner you calm down the better."
How the girl"s eyes sparkled! She was free. The odious alliance would not take place.
"Who is that?"
Everybody turned and looked at Max. His arm was leveled in the direction of a fine portrait in oil which hung suspended over the fireplace. Max was very pale.
"What"s that to you?" snarled the prince. He was what we Yankees call "hopping mad." The vase was worth a hundred crowns, and he never could find a leaf to replace the one just broken.
"I believe I have a right to know who that woman is up there." Max spoke quietly. As a matter of fact he was too weak to speak otherwise.
"A right to know? What do you mean?" demanded the prince fiercely.
"It is my wife."
With trembling fingers Max produced his locket.
"Will you look at this?" he asked in a voice that was a bit shaky.
The prince stepped forward and jerked the locket from Max"s hand. But the moment he saw the contents his jaw fell and he rocked on his heels unsteadily and staggered back toward the duke for support.
"What"s the matter, Prince?" asked the duke anxiously. After all Doppelkinn was an old crony, and mayhap he had been harsh with him.
"Where did you get that?" asked the prince hoa.r.s.ely.
"I have always worn it," answered Max. "The chain that went with it originally will no longer fit my neck."
"Arnheim! . . . Duke! . . . Come and look at this!"--feebly.
"Good Heaven!" cried the duke.
"It is the princess!" said Arnheim in awed tones.
"Where did you get it?" demanded the prince again.
"I was found with it around my neck."
"Duke, what do you think?" asked the agitated prince.
"What do I think?"
"Yes. This was around my son"s neck the day he was lost. If this should be! . . . If it were possible!"
"What?" The duke looked from the prince to the man who had worn the locket. Certainly there wasn"t any sign of likeness. But when he looked at the portrait on the wall and then at Max doubt grew in his eyes. They were somewhat alike. He plucked nervously at his beard.
"Prince," said Max, "before Heaven I believe that I may be . . . your son!
"My son!"
By this time they were all tremendously excited and agitated and white; all save the princess, who was gazing at Max with sudden gladness in her eyes, while over her cheeks there stole the phantom of a rose. If it were true!
"Let me tell you my story," said Max. (It is not necessary for me to repeat it.)
The prince turned helplessly toward the duke, but the duke was equally dazed.