章节正文
wine were ordered. I sat down in the private room. A minute
later Fritz came in.
"She's coming," he said.
"If she were not, I should have to doubt the Countess Helga's taste."
She came in. I gave her time to set the wine down--I didn't
want it dropped. Fritz poured out a glass and gave it to me.
"Is the gentleman in great pain?" the girl asked, sympathetically.
"The gentleman is no worse than when he saw you last," said I,
throwing away my cloak.
She started, with a little shriek. Then she cried:
"It was the King, then! I told mother so the moment I saw his picture.
Oh, sir, forgive me!"
"Faith, you gave me nothing that hurt much," said I.
"But the things we said!"
"I forgive them for the thing you did."
"I must go and tell mother."
"Stop," said I, assuming a graver air. "We are not here
for sport tonight. Go and bring dinner, and not a word
of the King being here."
She came back in a few minutes, looking grave, yet very curious.
"Well, how is Johann?" I asked, beginning my dinner.
"Oh, that fellow, sir--my lord King, I mean!"
""Sir" will do, please. How is he?"
"We hardly see him now, sir."
"And why not?"
"I told him he came too often, sir," said she, tossing her head.
"So he sulks and stays away?"
"Yes, sir."
"But you could bring him back?" I suggested with a smile.
"Perhaps I could," said she.
"I know your powers, you see," said I, and she blushed with pleasure.
"It's not only that, sir, that keeps him away. He's very busy
at the Castle."
"But there's no shooting on now."
"No, sir; but he's in charge of the house."
"Johann turned housemaid?"
The little girl was brimming over with gossip.
"Well, there are no others," said she. "There's not a woman there--
not as a servant, I mean. They do say--but perhaps it's false, sir."
"Let's have it for what it's worth," said I.
"Indeed, I'm ashamed to tell you, sir."
"Oh, see, I'm looking at the ceiling."
"They do say there is a lady there, sir; but, except for her,
there's not a woman in the place. And Johann has to wait on
the gentlemen."
"Poor Johann! He must be overworked. Yet I'm sure he could
find half an hour to come and see you."
"It would depend on the time, sir, perhaps."
"Do you love him?" I asked.
"Not I, sir."
"And you wish to serve the King?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then tell him to meet you at the second milestone out of Zenda
tomorrow evening at ten o'clock. Say you'll be there and will walk
home with him."
"Do you mean him harm, sir?"
"Not if he will do as I bid him. But I think I've told you enough,
my pretty maid. See that you do as I bid you. And, mind,
no one is to know that the King has been here."
I spoke a little sternly, for there is seldom harm in infusing
a little fear into a woman's liking for you, and I softened
the effect by giving her a handsome present. Then we dined,
and, wrapping my cloak about my face, with Fritz leading the way,
we went downstairs to our horses again.
It was but half-past eight, and hardly yet dark; the streets
were full for such a quiet little place, and I could see that
gossip was all agog. With the King on one side and the duke
on the other, Zenda felt itself the centre of all Ruritania.
We jogged gently through the town, but set our horses to a sharper
pace when we reached the open country.
"You want to catch this fellow Johann?" asked Fritz.
"Ay, and I fancy I've baited the hook right. Our little Delilah
will bring our Samson. It is not enough, Fritz, to have no women
in a house, though brother Michael shows some wisdom there.
If you want safety, you must have none within fifty miles."
"None nearer than Strelsau, for instance," said poor Fritz,
with a lovelorn sigh.
We reached the avenue of the chateau, and were soon at the house.
As the hoofs of our horses sounded on the gravel, Sapt rushed out to meet us.
"Thank God, you're safe!" he cried. "Have you seen anything of them?"
"Of whom?" I asked, dismounting.
He drew us aside, that the grooms might not hear.
"Lad," he said to me, "you must not ride about here, unless with
half a dozen of us. You know among our men a tall young fellow,
Bernenstein by name?"
I knew him. He was a fine strapping young man, almost of my height,
and of light complexion.
"He lies in his room upstairs, with a bullet through his arm."
"The deuce he does!"
"After dinner he strolled out alone, and went a mile or so
into the wood; and as he walked, he thought he saw three men
among the trees; and one levelled a gun at him. He had
no weapon, and he started at a run back towards the house.
But one of them fired, and he was hit, and had much ado to reach
here before he fainted. By good luck, they feared to pursue him
nearer the house."
He paused and added:
"Lad, the bullet was meant for you."
"It is very likely," said I, "and it's first blood to brother Michael."
"I wonder which three it was," said Fritz.
"Well, Sapt," I said, "I went out tonight for no idle purpose,
as you shall hear. But there's one thing in my mind."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Why this," I answered. "That I shall ill requite the very great
honours Ruritania has done me if I depart from it leaving one of
those Six alive--neither with the help of God, will I."
And Sapt shook my hand on that.
CHAPTER 13
An Improvement on Jacob's Ladder
In the morning of the day after that on which I swore my oath
against the Six, I gave certain orders, and then rested in greater
contentment than I had known for some time. I was at work;
and work, though it cannot cure love, is yet a narcotic to it;
so that Sapt, who grew feverish, marvelled to see me sprawling
in an armchair in the sunshine, listening to one of my friends
who sang me amorous songs in a mellow voice and induced in me a
pleasing melancholy. Thus was I engaged when young Rupert Hentzau,
who feared neither man nor devil, and rode through the demesne--
where every tree might hide a marksman, for all he knew--
as though it had been the park at Strelsau, cantered up
to where I lay, bowing with burlesque deference, and craving
private speech with me in order to deliver a message from
the Duke of Strelsau. I made all withdraw, and then he said,
seating himself by me:
"The King is in love, it seems?"
"Not with life, my lord," said I, smiling.
"It is well," he rejoined. "Come, we are alone, Rassendyll--"
I rose to a sitting posture.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I was about to call one of my gentlemen to bring your horse,
my lord. If you do not know how to address the King, my brother
must find another messenger."
"Why keep up the farce?" he asked, negligently dusting his boot
with his glove.
"Because it is not finished yet; and meanwhile I'll choose my own name."
"Oh, so be it! Yet I spoke in love for you; for indeed you are
a man after my own heart."
"Saving my poor honesty," said I, "maybe I am. But that I
keep faith with men, and honour with women, maybe I am, my lord."
He darted a glance at me--a glance of anger.
"Is your mother dead?" said I.
"Ay, she's dead."
"She may thank God," said I, and I heard him curse me softly.
"Well, what's the message?" I continued.
I had touched him on the raw, for all the world knew he had
broken his mother's heart and flaunted his mistresses in her house;
and his airy manner was gone for the moment.
"The duke offers you more than I would," he growled.
"A halter for you, sire, was my suggestion. But he offers
you safe-conduct across the frontier and a million crowns."
"I prefer your offer, my lord, if I am bound to one."
"You refuse?"
"Of course."
"I told Michael you would;" and the villain, his temper restored,
gave me the sunniest of smiles. "The fact is, between ourselves,"
he continued, "Michael doesn't understand a gentleman."
I began to laugh.
"And you?" I asked.
"I do," he said. "Well, well, the halter be it."
"I'm sorry you won't live to see it," I observed.
"Has his Majesty done me the honour to fasten a particular quarrel on me?"
"I would you were a few years older, though."
"Oh, God gives years, but the devil gives increase," laughed he.
"I can hold my own."
"How is your prisoner?" I asked.
"The K--?"
"Your prisoner."
"I forgot your wishes, sire. Well, he is alive."
He rose to his feet; I imitated him. Then, with a smile, he said:
"And the pretty princess? Faith, I'll wager the next Elphberg
will be red enough, for all that Black Michael will be called his father."
I sprang a step towards him, clenching my hand. He did not
move an inch, and his lip curled in insolent amusement.
"Go, while your skin's whole!" I muttered. He had repaid me with interest
my hit about his mother.
Then came the most audacious thing I have known in my life.
My friends were some thirty yards away. Rupert called to a groom
to bring him his horse, and dismissed the fellow with a crown.
The horse stood near. I stood still, suspecting nothing.
Rupert made as though to mount; then he suddenly turned to me:
his left hand resting in his belt, his right outstretched:
"Shake hands," he said.
I bowed, and did as he had foreseen--I put my hands behind me.
Quicker than thought, his left hand darted out at me,
and a small dagger flashed in the air; he struck me in the left shoulder
--had I not swerved, it had been my heart. With a cry, I staggered back.
Without touching the stirrup, he leapt upon his horse and was off like
an arrow, pursued by cries and revolver shots--the last as useless
as the first--and I sank into my chair, bleeding profusely,
as I watched the devil's brat disappear down the long avenue.
My friends surrounded me, and then I fainted.
I suppose that I was put to bed, and there lay, unconscious,
or half conscious, for many hours; for it was night when I awoke
to my full mind, and found Fritz beside me. I was weak
and weary, but he bade me be of good cheer, saying that my wound
would soon heal, and that meanwhile all had gone well,
for Johann, the keeper, had fallen into the snare we had laid
for him, and was even now in the house.
"And the queer thing is," pursued Fritz, "that I fancy he's not
altogether sorry to find himself here. He seems to think that
when Black Michael has brought off his coup, witnesses of how
later Fritz came in.
"She's coming," he said.
"If she were not, I should have to doubt the Countess Helga's taste."
She came in. I gave her time to set the wine down--I didn't
want it dropped. Fritz poured out a glass and gave it to me.
"Is the gentleman in great pain?" the girl asked, sympathetically.
"The gentleman is no worse than when he saw you last," said I,
throwing away my cloak.
She started, with a little shriek. Then she cried:
"It was the King, then! I told mother so the moment I saw his picture.
Oh, sir, forgive me!"
"Faith, you gave me nothing that hurt much," said I.
"But the things we said!"
"I forgive them for the thing you did."
"I must go and tell mother."
"Stop," said I, assuming a graver air. "We are not here
for sport tonight. Go and bring dinner, and not a word
of the King being here."
She came back in a few minutes, looking grave, yet very curious.
"Well, how is Johann?" I asked, beginning my dinner.
"Oh, that fellow, sir--my lord King, I mean!"
""Sir" will do, please. How is he?"
"We hardly see him now, sir."
"And why not?"
"I told him he came too often, sir," said she, tossing her head.
"So he sulks and stays away?"
"Yes, sir."
"But you could bring him back?" I suggested with a smile.
"Perhaps I could," said she.
"I know your powers, you see," said I, and she blushed with pleasure.
"It's not only that, sir, that keeps him away. He's very busy
at the Castle."
"But there's no shooting on now."
"No, sir; but he's in charge of the house."
"Johann turned housemaid?"
The little girl was brimming over with gossip.
"Well, there are no others," said she. "There's not a woman there--
not as a servant, I mean. They do say--but perhaps it's false, sir."
"Let's have it for what it's worth," said I.
"Indeed, I'm ashamed to tell you, sir."
"Oh, see, I'm looking at the ceiling."
"They do say there is a lady there, sir; but, except for her,
there's not a woman in the place. And Johann has to wait on
the gentlemen."
"Poor Johann! He must be overworked. Yet I'm sure he could
find half an hour to come and see you."
"It would depend on the time, sir, perhaps."
"Do you love him?" I asked.
"Not I, sir."
"And you wish to serve the King?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then tell him to meet you at the second milestone out of Zenda
tomorrow evening at ten o'clock. Say you'll be there and will walk
home with him."
"Do you mean him harm, sir?"
"Not if he will do as I bid him. But I think I've told you enough,
my pretty maid. See that you do as I bid you. And, mind,
no one is to know that the King has been here."
I spoke a little sternly, for there is seldom harm in infusing
a little fear into a woman's liking for you, and I softened
the effect by giving her a handsome present. Then we dined,
and, wrapping my cloak about my face, with Fritz leading the way,
we went downstairs to our horses again.
It was but half-past eight, and hardly yet dark; the streets
were full for such a quiet little place, and I could see that
gossip was all agog. With the King on one side and the duke
on the other, Zenda felt itself the centre of all Ruritania.
We jogged gently through the town, but set our horses to a sharper
pace when we reached the open country.
"You want to catch this fellow Johann?" asked Fritz.
"Ay, and I fancy I've baited the hook right. Our little Delilah
will bring our Samson. It is not enough, Fritz, to have no women
in a house, though brother Michael shows some wisdom there.
If you want safety, you must have none within fifty miles."
"None nearer than Strelsau, for instance," said poor Fritz,
with a lovelorn sigh.
We reached the avenue of the chateau, and were soon at the house.
As the hoofs of our horses sounded on the gravel, Sapt rushed out to meet us.
"Thank God, you're safe!" he cried. "Have you seen anything of them?"
"Of whom?" I asked, dismounting.
He drew us aside, that the grooms might not hear.
"Lad," he said to me, "you must not ride about here, unless with
half a dozen of us. You know among our men a tall young fellow,
Bernenstein by name?"
I knew him. He was a fine strapping young man, almost of my height,
and of light complexion.
"He lies in his room upstairs, with a bullet through his arm."
"The deuce he does!"
"After dinner he strolled out alone, and went a mile or so
into the wood; and as he walked, he thought he saw three men
among the trees; and one levelled a gun at him. He had
no weapon, and he started at a run back towards the house.
But one of them fired, and he was hit, and had much ado to reach
here before he fainted. By good luck, they feared to pursue him
nearer the house."
He paused and added:
"Lad, the bullet was meant for you."
"It is very likely," said I, "and it's first blood to brother Michael."
"I wonder which three it was," said Fritz.
"Well, Sapt," I said, "I went out tonight for no idle purpose,
as you shall hear. But there's one thing in my mind."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Why this," I answered. "That I shall ill requite the very great
honours Ruritania has done me if I depart from it leaving one of
those Six alive--neither with the help of God, will I."
And Sapt shook my hand on that.
CHAPTER 13
An Improvement on Jacob's Ladder
In the morning of the day after that on which I swore my oath
against the Six, I gave certain orders, and then rested in greater
contentment than I had known for some time. I was at work;
and work, though it cannot cure love, is yet a narcotic to it;
so that Sapt, who grew feverish, marvelled to see me sprawling
in an armchair in the sunshine, listening to one of my friends
who sang me amorous songs in a mellow voice and induced in me a
pleasing melancholy. Thus was I engaged when young Rupert Hentzau,
who feared neither man nor devil, and rode through the demesne--
where every tree might hide a marksman, for all he knew--
as though it had been the park at Strelsau, cantered up
to where I lay, bowing with burlesque deference, and craving
private speech with me in order to deliver a message from
the Duke of Strelsau. I made all withdraw, and then he said,
seating himself by me:
"The King is in love, it seems?"
"Not with life, my lord," said I, smiling.
"It is well," he rejoined. "Come, we are alone, Rassendyll--"
I rose to a sitting posture.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I was about to call one of my gentlemen to bring your horse,
my lord. If you do not know how to address the King, my brother
must find another messenger."
"Why keep up the farce?" he asked, negligently dusting his boot
with his glove.
"Because it is not finished yet; and meanwhile I'll choose my own name."
"Oh, so be it! Yet I spoke in love for you; for indeed you are
a man after my own heart."
"Saving my poor honesty," said I, "maybe I am. But that I
keep faith with men, and honour with women, maybe I am, my lord."
He darted a glance at me--a glance of anger.
"Is your mother dead?" said I.
"Ay, she's dead."
"She may thank God," said I, and I heard him curse me softly.
"Well, what's the message?" I continued.
I had touched him on the raw, for all the world knew he had
broken his mother's heart and flaunted his mistresses in her house;
and his airy manner was gone for the moment.
"The duke offers you more than I would," he growled.
"A halter for you, sire, was my suggestion. But he offers
you safe-conduct across the frontier and a million crowns."
"I prefer your offer, my lord, if I am bound to one."
"You refuse?"
"Of course."
"I told Michael you would;" and the villain, his temper restored,
gave me the sunniest of smiles. "The fact is, between ourselves,"
he continued, "Michael doesn't understand a gentleman."
I began to laugh.
"And you?" I asked.
"I do," he said. "Well, well, the halter be it."
"I'm sorry you won't live to see it," I observed.
"Has his Majesty done me the honour to fasten a particular quarrel on me?"
"I would you were a few years older, though."
"Oh, God gives years, but the devil gives increase," laughed he.
"I can hold my own."
"How is your prisoner?" I asked.
"The K--?"
"Your prisoner."
"I forgot your wishes, sire. Well, he is alive."
He rose to his feet; I imitated him. Then, with a smile, he said:
"And the pretty princess? Faith, I'll wager the next Elphberg
will be red enough, for all that Black Michael will be called his father."
I sprang a step towards him, clenching my hand. He did not
move an inch, and his lip curled in insolent amusement.
"Go, while your skin's whole!" I muttered. He had repaid me with interest
my hit about his mother.
Then came the most audacious thing I have known in my life.
My friends were some thirty yards away. Rupert called to a groom
to bring him his horse, and dismissed the fellow with a crown.
The horse stood near. I stood still, suspecting nothing.
Rupert made as though to mount; then he suddenly turned to me:
his left hand resting in his belt, his right outstretched:
"Shake hands," he said.
I bowed, and did as he had foreseen--I put my hands behind me.
Quicker than thought, his left hand darted out at me,
and a small dagger flashed in the air; he struck me in the left shoulder
--had I not swerved, it had been my heart. With a cry, I staggered back.
Without touching the stirrup, he leapt upon his horse and was off like
an arrow, pursued by cries and revolver shots--the last as useless
as the first--and I sank into my chair, bleeding profusely,
as I watched the devil's brat disappear down the long avenue.
My friends surrounded me, and then I fainted.
I suppose that I was put to bed, and there lay, unconscious,
or half conscious, for many hours; for it was night when I awoke
to my full mind, and found Fritz beside me. I was weak
and weary, but he bade me be of good cheer, saying that my wound
would soon heal, and that meanwhile all had gone well,
for Johann, the keeper, had fallen into the snare we had laid
for him, and was even now in the house.
"And the queer thing is," pursued Fritz, "that I fancy he's not
altogether sorry to find himself here. He seems to think that
when Black Michael has brought off his coup, witnesses of how
- shriek [ʃri:k]
v.&n.尖叫(声) (初中英语单词) - forgive [fə´giv] vt.原谅，谅解，宽恕 (初中英语单词)
- beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)
- downstairs [,daun´steəz] ad.在楼下 a.楼下的 (初中英语单词)
- gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
- wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
- bullet [´bulit] n.子弹 (初中英语单词)
- weapon [´wepən] n.武器；斗争手段 (初中英语单词)
- pursue [pə´sju:] v.追赶；追踪；从事 (初中英语单词)
- improvement [im´pru:vmənt] n.改进，改善，进步 (初中英语单词)
- sunshine [´sʌnʃain] n.日光，阳光 (初中英语单词)
- withdraw [wið´drɔ:] v.收回；撤销；撤退 (初中英语单词)
- meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
- suggestion [sə´dʒestʃən] n.建议，提议；暗示 (初中英语单词)
- frontier [´frʌntiə] n.国境；边疆；边界 (初中英语单词)
- temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
- majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)
- fasten [´fɑ:sən] v.扎牢；闩住；钉牢 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- conscious [´kɔnʃəs] a.意识的；自觉的 (初中英语单词)
- keeper [´ki:pə] n.管理人；看守；保管人 (初中英语单词)
- sternly [´stə:nli] ad.严厉地；坚定地 (高中英语单词)
- gravel [´grævəl] n.砾石 vt.铺砾石 (高中英语单词)
- mellow [´meləu] a.芳醇的 v.(使)成熟 (高中英语单词)
- melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- chateau [´ʃætəu] n.城堡；公馆，邸宅 (英语四级单词)
- upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)
- feverish [´fi:vəriʃ] a.发烧的；狂热的 (英语四级单词)
- armchair [´ɑ:mtʃeə] n.扶手椅 (英语四级单词)
- villain [´vilən] n.坏人；恶棍；反面角色 (英语四级单词)
- dagger [´dægə] n.短剑，匕首 (英语四级单词)
- touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
- stirrup [´stirəp] n.马蹬；镫形具 (英语四级单词)
- revolver [ri´vɔlvə] n.左轮手枪；旋转者 (英语四级单词)
- countess [´kauntis] n.伯爵夫人；女伯爵 (英语六级单词)
- liking [´laikiŋ] n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 (英语六级单词)
- wrapping [´ræpiŋ] n.包装材料 (英语六级单词)
- narcotic [nɑ:´kɔtik] n.麻醉剂 a.麻醉性的 (英语六级单词)
- burlesque [bə:´lesk] n.&a.滑稽戏(的) (英语六级单词)
- halter [´hɔ:ltə] n.缰绳，绞索 (英语六级单词)
- insolent [´insələnt] a.傲慢的；无礼的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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