“To see the Archduke Armand crowned?” she scoffed.
He bent his head close to her ear. “I trust so – with the diadem that never fades.”
She laughed. “Trust and hope are the weapons of the apathetic. Why don’t you, at least, deal in predictions; sometimes they inspire deeds.”
“Very good,” he said smilingly. “I predict that there is another little game for you and me to play in Dornlitz, and that we shall be there before many days.”
“You are an absent-minded prophet,” she said; “I told you I would not go to Dornlitz.”
“But if I need you, Madeline?”
She shook her head. “Transfer the game to Paris, or any place outside Valeria, and I will gladly be your partner.”
He took her hand. “Will nothing persuade you?”
She faced him instantly. “Nothing, my lord, nothing, so long as Frederick is king.”
The Duke lifted her hand and tapped it softly against his cheek.
“Tres bien ma chère, tres bien,” he said; then frowned, as Mrs. Spencer’s maid entered.
“Pour Monsieur le Duc,” she curtsied.
Lotzen took the card from the salver and turned it over.
“I will see him at once,” he said; “have him shown to my private cabinet… It is Bigler,” he explained.
“Why not have him here?”
He hesitated.
“Oh, very well; I thought you trusted me.”
He struck the bell. “Show Count Bigler here,” he ordered. Then when the maid had gone: “There, Madeline, that should satisfy you, for I have no idea what brings him.”
She went quickly to him, and leaning over his shoulder lightly kissed his cheek.
“I knew you trusted me, dear,” she said, “but a woman likes to have it demonstrated, now and then.”
He turned to catch her; but she sprang away.
“No, Ferdinand, no,” as he pursued her; “the Count is coming – go and sit down.” – She tried to reach her boudoir, but with a laugh he headed her off, and slowly drove her into a corner.
“Surrender,” he said; “I’ll be merciful.”
For answer there came the swish of high-held skirts, a vision of black silk stockings and white lace, and she was across a huge sofa, and, with flushed face and merry eyes, had turned and faced him.
And as they stood so, Count Bigler was announced.
“Welcome, my dear Bigler, welcome!” the Duke exclaimed, hurrying over to greet him; “you are surely Heaven sent… Madame Spencer, I think you know the Count.”
She saw the look of sharp surprise that Bigler tried to hide by bowing very low, and she laughed gayly.
“Indeed, you do come in good time, my lord,” she said; “we were so put to for amusement we were reduced to playing tag around the room – don’t be shocked; you will be playing it too, if you are here for long.”
“If it carry the usual penalty,” he answered, joining in her laugh, “I am very ready to play it now.”
“Doubtless,” said the Duke dryly, motioning him to a chair. “But first, tell us the gossip of the Capital; we have heard nothing for weeks. What’s my dear cousin Armand up to – not dying, I fear?”
“Dying! Not he – not while there are any honors handy, with a doting King to shower them on him, and a Princess waiting for wife.”
The Duke’s face, cold at best, went yet colder.
“Has the wedding date been announced?” he asked.
“Not formally, but I understand it has been fixed for the twenty-seventh.”
Lotzen glanced at a calendar. “Three weeks from to-morrow – well, much may happen in that time. Come,” he said good-naturedly, shaking off the irritation, “tell us all you know – everything – from the newest dance at the opera to the tattle of the Clubs. I said you were Heaven sent – now prove it. But first – was it wise for you to come here? What will Frederick say?”
The Count laughed. “Oh, I’m not here; I’m in Paris, on two weeks leave.”
“Paris!” the Duke exclaimed. “Surely, this Paris fever is the very devil; are you off to-night or in the morning?”
Bigler shot a quick glance at Mrs. Spencer, and understood.
“I’m not to Paris at all,” he said, “unless you send me.”
“He won’t do that, Monsieur le Comte,” the lady laughed; and Lotzen, who had quite missed the hidden meaning in their words, nodded in affirmance.
“Come,” he said, “your budget – out with it. I’m athirst for news.”
The Count drew out a cigar and, at Mrs. Spencer’s smile of permission, he lighted it, and began his tale. And it took time in the telling, for the Duke was constant in his questions, and a month is very long for such as he to be torn from his usual life and haunts.
And, through it all, Mrs. Spencer lay back in sinuous indolence among the cushions on the couch before the fire, one hand behind her shapely head, her eyes, languidly indifferent, upon the two men, her thoughts seemingly far away. And while he talked, Count Bigler watched her curiously, but discreetly. This was the first time he had seen the famous “Woman in Black” so closely, and her striking beauty fairly stunned him. He knew his Paris and Vienna well, but her equal was not there – no, nor elsewhere, he would swear. Truly, he had wasted his sympathy on Lotzen – he needed none of it with such a companion for his exile.
And she, unseeing, yet seeing all, read much of his thoughts; and presently, from behind her heavy lashes, she flashed a smile upon him – half challenge, half rebuke – then turned her face from him, nor shifted it until the fading daylight wrapped her in its shadow.
“There, my tale is told,” the Count ended. “I’m empty as a broken bottle – and as dry,” and he poured himself a glass of wine from the decanter on a side table.
“You are a rare gossip, truly,” said the Duke; “but you have most carefully avoided the one matter that interests me most: – what do they say of me in Dornlitz?”
Bigler shrugged his shoulders. “Why ask?” he said. “You know quite well the Capital does not love you.”
“And, therefore, no reason for me to be sensitive. Come, out with it. What do they say?”
“Very well,” said Bigler, “if you want it, here it is: – they have the notion that you are no longer the Heir Presumptive, and it seems to give them vast delight.”
The Duke nodded. “And on what is the notion based?”
“Originally, on hope, I fancy; but lately it has become accepted that the King not only has the power to displace you, but has actually signed the decree.”
“And Frederick – does he encourage the idea?”
The Count shook his head. “No, except by his open fondness for the American.”
“I’ve been urged to go to Dornlitz and kill the American,” Lotzen remarked, with a smile and a nod toward Mrs. Spencer.
“If you can kill him,” said Bigler instantly, “the advice is excellent.”
“Exactly. And if I can’t, it’s the end of me – and my friends.”
“I think your friends would gladly try the hazard,” the Count answered. “It is dull prospect and small hope for them, even now. And candidly, my lord, to my mind, it’s your only chance, if you wish the Crown; for, believe me, the Archduke Armand is fixed for the succession, and the day