An Imperial Marriage Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  COMPLICATIONS

  Althea was at first unwilling to go to our house, as such a course mightinvolve us in some way with the authorities; but I would not listen toher objections.

  "Let me suggest one precaution," I said as the cab stopped. "That youhold your handkerchief to your face as you enter. We have one Germanservant, Gretchen, and she had better not recognize you. The other twoare English, and will hold their tongues."

  She adopted the suggestion, and when we entered the house we found thatBessie had already arrived and had explained that I had missed thetrain. She kissed Althea and fussed over her in the way girls have, andI could see that she was bursting with curiosity to know everything.

  After a few minutes she suggested that I should send a telegram home tosay I was not going; and as I saw that she wished to be left alone withAlthea, I went off at once. It turned out to be lucky that I did, forLieutenant von Bernhoff, a man who took a great deal more interest inBessie than she did in him, was just getting out of a cab as I left thehouse.

  "What has happened, Bastable? I went to the station to see you off, andDormund told me you weren't going. From what he said I was afraid thatsomething had happened to your sister."

  I shut down a smile. "There's nothing the matter. One of my trunks wasleft behind, and I had to put off my journey. I'm on my way to wire tomy people at home. Come with me." He was no favourite of mine, and asa friend of Dormund's, about the last man in Berlin to be trusted withthe secret of Althea's presence in the house.

  He went with me to send the telegram, and plagued me with a hundredquestions about Bessie, the reason for her having to wear spectacles,and so on; and when we reached the house again he wanted to come in andsee her.

  "You must excuse her to-day, von Bernhoff. The place is all sixes andsevens on account of my intended departure," I said with a shrug.

  "You found your lost trunk, I hope? Dormund told me you were in a finetemper about it."

  "I am much obliged to him, but he might mind his own business."

  "He was minding it in a sense," he replied with a grin. "I had promisedto introduce him to your sister. He knows, you know"; and he grinnedmeaningly.

  "A pity you were not there earlier then," I said carelessly, repressinga smile at what would have been the result if he had been.

  "I shall bring him some day to introduce him," he declared as we shookhands.

  "By all means. He is a good fellow. But not until I get back toBerlin."

  "He is awfully keen to know her--now"; and with this somewhat crypticremark he grinned again and turned away.

  I went upstairs wondering curiously whether Dormund had said anythingelse about the "Bessie" he had seen at the station to start vonBernhoff's suspicions. The complications were beginning already.

  But Althea and Bessie appeared to be taking the matter lightly, for aburst of merry laughter from them both rang out as I opened the door.

  "Paul of the grave face!" cried Bessie. "Look at him, Althea."

  Althea's eyes were shining brightly, and the colour had returned to hercheeks, as I saw when she looked up at my entrance.

  "It is good to find you like this," I said.

  "It is Bessie. She is wonderful," said Althea.

  "There is just no trouble at all," declared Bessie, coming toward mewith a light of pleasure dancing in her eyes. "It is the mostridiculous mistake, Paul; and all this bother to-day appears to be theresult of it. Shall I tell him?" Althea nodded. "About the Prince vonGraven. It isn't Althea he cares for at all. It's Chalice. Althea haslet every one believe it, lest Chalice's prospects should be injured."

  I started and caught my breath in surprise and almost fierce delight atthis wonderful news. But Bessie was a thoughtful little body, and shehad placed herself purposely so that Althea should not see the effectupon me; and to give me time to recover myself, she added: "You'll havesome tea, won't you, Paul? Ring the bell for another cup."

  I turned away and rang the bell, and then with a big effort I chokeddown my delighted surprise and drew a chair close to the others.

  "So it's Chalice, eh?" I asked quietly.

  "Of course no one must know it except you two," said Althea.

  Bessie laughed mischievously. "Even that doesn't much matter, does it,Paul?"

  "It makes no end of a difference," I said gravely. "But why on earthhave you allowed the mistake to be made? Both you and Chalice herselflet me share it last night, too."

  "It is for Chalice's sake," said Althea. "You had just come from her,and I saw what she had told you. You know she is in my care, and that Ipromised my sister on her death-bed that I would look after her."

  "You speak as if she were a child and you a grave and sedate matron,Althea," declared Bessie. "And there can't be more than a year or twobetween you."

  "Three years, Bessie. Chalice is only twenty; and I am her aunt, youknow."

  We all smiled at this. "But that is no reason why you should get intoall this bother on account of the Prince," objected Bessie.

  "The simplest thing will be to let the truth be known," I put in.

  "Oh no, no," protested Althea vehemently. "Anything but that; at anyrate for the present. Herr Grumpel declares her voice will take thewhole country by storm; and she is to make her debut soon. She has abrilliant future before her, and if she were to incur the displeasure ofthe Court at such a time it would ruin everything."

  "But Prince von Graven won't wish his wife to be a singer," I objected,"even supposing such a marriage were ever sanctioned."

  "Chalice declares she will not do a thing to hurt his interests. Thatis why she will not have a betrothal."

  "But what about you, Althea?" cried Bessie indignantly. "Are you to bepacked off to prison or out of the country in order that the secret maybe kept?"

  "It must be kept, Bessie," said Althea very decidedly.

  "I think a little plain talk to the Prince would be a good thing," Isuggested.

  "He thinks only of Chalice, and will not do anything against her wish."

  "Something like a deadlock, then," I murmured. If everything was tohinge only on Chalice's wishes, the case promised to be awkward. Wewere silent for a while, and then I said: "You will be placed in a veryugly fix. We all know what the Kaiser is when any one opposes him. Yousurely won't go to the extreme of letting yourself be arrested?"

  This appeared to alarm her seriously. "No, no. There are other reasons,too," she exclaimed hastily.

  "Then your only course is for you to leave the country."

  "I can't even leave Berlin while Chalice is here."

  "Then take her with you."

  "There is Herr Grumpel. If she left now, it would ruin everything."

  I tossed up my hands with a smile. The position was impossible.

  "Hadn't you better fetch your trunks from the station, Paul?" askedBessie.

  "I'm afraid there's nothing in them that will solve this puzzle."

  "At any rate you will not go home now," she retorted meaningly. "Andwhile you go for them, Althea and I can talk things over. I have madeup my mind. She must, of course, stay with us for the time."

  "No, no," protested Althea. I rose, delighted at the idea.

  "We shall have everything settled by the time you're back, Paul."

  "There's Gretchen, remember," I replied as I went out of the room.

  I walked to the station and started to think things over, but there wasone thought which for the time crowded out all others. Althea was notin love with the Prince! Thank Heaven for that. And compared withthat, nothing mattered. I would find some way out of the tangle, and inthe meantime--well, I could hope again. And then I began dreaming andplanning with the sanguine vanity of a man very much in love and oncemore able to hope for the best.

  Dormund was still at the station, and met me as I entered. "Ah, HerrBastable, going on your journey after all?"
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br />   "Not to-night. I don't travel at night if I can help it."

  "Well that is perhaps as well. It will give you more time. Allpassports have to be vised afresh. But of course I can see to that foryou, if you like."

  "Why's that? Anything happened?"

  "It would interest you if you were still on your paper. Trouble withthose cursed Poles again. A plot to rob one of the Imperial couriers ofhis papers. We had news from Koln and prevented it; but some of thescoundrels are known to be here in Berlin, and we are watching for them.If we were to behead a few of them it would save a lot of trouble."

  "There would be so many less to make the trouble, anyway," I repliedcarelessly. "Do you know the people in it?"

  "I know who is at the bottom of it, and so do you; for you have writtenabout him often enough. That Baron von Ringheim. There's no proof, ofcourse; there never is; but proof or no proof, I'd put him in safekeeping if I had my way. He's the most dangerous man in Europe to ourGovernment."

  "I think you have him on the brain, Dormund," I laughed.

  "I'd rather have him under lock and key," he retorted almost angrily."But get the evening paper; you will see something about it there."

  I had heard a good deal about this Baron von Ringheim. He had beenbanished many years before for some offence against the Government, andhis estates had been confiscated. He was believed to have alliedhimself with all parties who had grievances against the Government; hadbeen very active in the work of sedition; and was credited with havingoriginated a policy of combination among them for the common purpose ofdiscrediting the Government. The policy had been very successful, withthe result that, whenever a daring coup of any sort was made orattempted, he was credited with the responsibility.

  "Then I suppose I owe it to the Baron that if I go to-morrow I must getmy passport vised," I replied after a pause.

  "Yes; but of course it will only be a form in your case. By the way,Lieutenant Bernhoff was here after you left this afternoon. He came tobid you good-bye, he said; but I suppose it was more to see your sister.He tells me he has hopes some day of----eh?" and he smiledinsinuatingly.

  "One never knows what may happen, Dormund."

  "He is a good fellow, and rich. He would have done me the honour topresent me to your sister this afternoon. You may have seen that I wasvery interested in her."

  "We must find another occasion then. I am sure the pleasure will bemutual," I said with a smile, the meaning of which he fortunately didnot understand.

  "You are very good." He was pleased at the compliment.

  I assumed a more confidential air. "By the way, Dormund, I've beenthinking a good deal about that arrest you were after--of FraeuleinKorper."

  "You know her well?"

  "She is a very great friend of my sister." I managed to suggest morethan the words implied and he smiled. "I can't bring myself to think ofher as a criminal of any sort. It took my breath away."

  "Of course I can't tell you anything I know officially, but there can beno harm in my saying that the arrest was ordered from Count von Felsen'soffice."

  "I'm not after newspaper copy," I laughed. "But it bewildered me."

  At that moment some one came up to him and he excused himself. I boughtthe evening paper and drove off home with my trunks.

  I had not learnt much in regard to Althea, but the fact that the arresthad been ordered from Count von Felsen's office might mean that it wasconnected with her supposed relations with Prince von Graven. It wascertainly unusual, and the Kaiser's hand might well be in thebackground.

  Then I read the account of the affair Dormund had spoken of. It readvery much like one of the Baron's coups. The courier had been inpossession of some very important State papers, and these had all butfallen into the hands of those who had attempted to steal them. Thesame thing had been done more than once before, I knew. The object wasto get hold of such things, and then make them public at the moment whenthey would do the greatest damage.

  At the present time the Kaiser's naval policy was the target at whichthey were striking, and the temper of the people was in such a ticklishcondition that any well-aimed blow might hamper those in powerdangerously. If the old Baron was at the bottom of it, he was certainlya very astute tactician. And if I knew anything of the feelings of theauthorities, he and his friends would have a very bad time of it if theywere caught.

  I was folding up the paper when I had a very ugly shock. I caught thename, "ALTHEA KORPER," in bold type in the centre of a police notice.

  It was an advertisement announcing her flight, seeking information abouther, and warning all who connived at her escape or gave her shelter thatthey would render themselves liable to prosecution. To this was added aminute and detailed description.

  This was something indeed. It threw a fresh light upon the reason forthe arrest. It was impossible to believe that so drastic a step as thiswould be taken merely because of the affair with the Prince. There mustbe more behind than I had thought.

  Even the Kaiser would not go to the length of setting the police tohound down a girl merely because a man had fallen in love with her, anda Court marriage scheme threatened to go wrong in consequence. The ideawas simply preposterous.

  But what could the arrest mean then? I must see if Althea could throwany light on it, and warn her. We should have to steer a very carefulcourse, or there would be serious trouble. That was certain.

  I tore the notice out of the paper and put it in my pocket, and when Ireached home I was careful not to show the real concern I felt.

  "I have persuaded Althea to remain with us for a time, Paul," declaredBessie.

  "Good. As a matter of fact it would be a little difficult for you toleave Berlin for a day or two," I said to Althea, as lightly as I could."There has been some bother with the recalcitrant Polish party"; and Iwent on to give the gist of my talk with Dormund.

  "Can I see the paper?" she asked. "I am a Pole, you remember."

  I had not remembered it, and the coincidence struck me forcibly. I gaveher the paper, and said I would see about my luggage while she read it.

  "Don't go, please, Mr. Bastable. I have something to tell you," shesaid, looking up from the paper. "About this. I must go away at once."

  "No, no, Althea," declared Bessie. "We shan't let you go, shall we,Paul?"

  "I will tell you, and you will see that I must. You know what is hereabout the Baron von Ringheim, Mr. Bastable. This is evidently thereason for my arrest. I have misled every one. I did it for Chalice'ssake. My name is not Korper at all; it is that"--and she pointed to thepaper--"von Ringheim. I am his daughter. Now you will understand why Imust hide."

  There was a pause. I looked at Bessie, and our eyes met.

  I took the police advertisement from my pocket and handed it to her insilence. She read it at a glance, and read also my meaning--that Iwould not let her decide what to do without knowing all the facts.

  She gave it back to me with a smile.

  "While you were at the station, Paul, I had a quarrel with Gretchen.She was insolent, so I discharged her on the spot."

  I breathed a sigh of relief. She was with me in the resolve to stand byAlthea, let the consequences be what they might.