The Princess Dehra
BY JOHN REED SCOTT.
Copyright. 190*. by John Reed Scott
Instantly Lot/.en stepped for
ward.
“My lords,” he cried, “as heir
prcsurntivc I claim the throne
of Valeria. 1 call upon you, in
the name of the house of Dal
berg, to acknowledge me and to
proclaim iny accession.”
“Upon what does your royal
highness rest your claim?
Count Kpping asked formally.
The duke pointed to the box;
he saw now it was shut, tight and
the key not in the lock—and this,
with what had occurred as he en
tered, undoubtedly indicated
either that the book had not yet
been examined or that it. con
tained no decree fixing the suc
cession. In either event, he
stood a chance to win; and, at
least, he had need for time.
“Upon the. laws of the Ual
bergs,” he replied, raising his
hand in salute; “and under
which, as you all know, I have
hcen the heir presumptive since
my father s death.”
“And you will accept them as
final arbiter between us” asked
Arrimml quickly.
Ferdinand turned and looked
at him fixedly.
“For the crown, yes, he saiu
very softly; and not a man but
understood tlie militation and the
challenge.
And tho Archduke smiled, and
answered in a voice even softer
and more suave.
“Ho be it—1 will chance the
rest.” Then he addressed the
council, “llis excellency, the
prime minister, has the key to the
box; with your permission 1 will
ask him to explain when and un
der what circumstances he got
ki. ’
And the count took care that
Armaud should lose nothing in
the telling, and when he had fin
ished, lie drew out the queer little
key, and holding it so all could
see looked at the two Dal bergs
inquiringly.
“Shall 1 unlock the box” he
asked; and both nodded.
Hut the key would enter only
a little way; and while the count
worked with it, Armaud remem
bered suddenly the unusual mo
tion Frederick had used the day
lie showed him the laws.
“Turn the bit sidewise and
push down and in,” he said. And
at once the key slipped into place
and the lock snapped open.
At the sound, the ministers
eagerly craned forward; hut the
count did not offer to lift the lid
until he received the archduke’s
nod; then he slowly laid it back,
and leaning over peered inside.
And he peered so long, that Lot
ren grew impatient.
“The law.*., Epping, the laws,”
he said sharply; “let us have
them, man.”
The count looked at him and
then at Armaud.
“The box is empty,” he said.
CHAPTER IV.
■; —f—
The Presumption Sliifts.
Into the silence of amazement
that ensude, come the duke’s
sneering laugh.
“Hurely, surely, you didn’t
think to find it otherwise!” he
said.
His insinuation was so appar
ent that tlA archduke turned
upon him instantly.
“Don’t he a coward, Ferdi
nand, of Iiot/.en,” he said.
“Speak plainly; do you mean to
charge me with having removed
the book from tho box!”
The duke bowed. “Just that,
your royal highness,” lie said;
“jHst that, since you must have
it—you Americans are so blunt,
of speech.”
Armaud leaned forward. “The
only way to deal with a liar,”
he answered, “is to put him
where he oan’t lie out.”
jr eruiuaud shrugged las slioul
ders deprecatingly. “You play
it very cleverly, cousin mine, but
the logic of elimination is against
you. I assume you will not ac
cuse our dear dead master of
having hid the laws; and since
his decease, the key, you admit,
has been with only you and his
excellency, the prime minister.
I assume also you will acquit
Count fipping—1 am quite sure 1
will—and so we come back to—
you.”
The arch hike had long ago
learned that ii an encounter with
Lotz.cn it wts the smiling face
:liat served him best; so he cou
irolled bis anger and turned to
the ministers.
“His highness overlooks the
togic of opportunity,’’ he said.
“I was not in the summer palace,
mice the king’s death, until this
Horning.”
Ferdinand laughed again.
«
“Naturally not; you're not such
a bungler.”
Baron Steuben, who had been
pulling thoughtfully at his beard,
eyeing first one and then an
other, here broke in, addressing
Armand.
“Would your highness care to
tell us when you last saw the
book of laws?” he inquired.
“I shall gladly answer any
question the council may ask.
The only time I ever saw either
book or box was the day the
king offered me iny inheritance
as the heir of Hugo.”
And once again came Lotzen’s
sneering interiuption.
“And yet you could instruct
Count Epping just how to manip
ulate the key:—‘turn the bit
sidewise and push down and in’.”
iietz half closed his eyes and
smiled; Epping s lips grew tight
er; Duval and Marquand
frowned; Steuben with a last
fierce tug at his beard, relapsed
into silence.
But Armand mot the issue
squarely.
“It is my word against your
inference,” he said. “1 am
quite content to let the council
choose. They, too, have seen
that key used but once, and yet I
venture that a year hence they
also will remember the peculiar
motion it requires.”
“They are much more likely
to remember your ready wit and
clever tongue,” Lotzen retorted.
The archduke turned from him
to the council.
“My lords,” he said, “there is
small profit to you in these per
sonal recriminations. The ques
tion is, who is king of Valeria,
Ferdinand of Lotzen or myself
—and as only the book of laws
can answer, I ask that you, your
selves, search King Frederick's
apartments and interrogate his
particular attendants.”
Count Epping arose. “Will
the minister of justice aid in the
search,” he said—“and also
your royal highness?” address
ing Lotzen.
The latter smiled. “No; I
thank you—what is the good in
searching for something that
isn’t there!”—then he turned
upon Armand. “I assume you
brought the box here,” pointing
to the table, “and that you found
it in the vault, where it is al
ways kept—may I inquire how
you got into the vault ?”
“Through the door,” said the
archduke dryly.
“Then you know the combi
nation—something the king nev
er told even me. Observe, my
lords, the logic of opportunity!”
Hut Armand shook his head.
No , said In*, “I do not know
the combination.”
Ami Lotzen, seeing suddenly
the pit that yawned for him i'f
he pursued farther, simply smiled
incredulously and turned away.
The old count, however, sbav
it too, and had no mind to let
the opportunity slip.
“Who opened the door?” he
asked bluntly.
Her royal highness the prin
cess,” said the archduke.
And Epping nodded in undis
guised satisfaction; while Fer
dinand of Lotzen sauntering noi^
ehalantly over to the nearest
window, cursed him under his
breath for a meddler and a fool.
As the duke had predicted, the
search of the king’s apartments
and the vault proved barren; and
then, his particular servants and
such attendants as were in the
palace were summoned and ex
amined and also without re
sult; indeed none of them re
membered having seen either box
or book —save one: Adolph,
Frederick’s valet. lie said that,
recently, his master had spent
many hours in the evenings
studying the laws, going through
them with great eare, making no
tations and marking certain
pages with slips of paper; that
no one else was ever present at
such times, and once, when he
had unthinkigly approached the
desk, the king hail angrily hade
him leave the room. Asked when
he hill last seen the book, he
answered the fourth day before
his majesty’s demise; which, he
added, he fit sure was also the
last time it had been used; but
admitting, frankly, when pressed
by the areh duke, that his only
r 'RHOii for so thii^ig was that
he had not seen it m that inter
val.
“Oh, as to that, my dear cous
in,” said Lotzen from the win
dow, the instant tlm valet had
gone, “I am altogether willing
I to admit, and for the council to
assume* that the book was safe
ly in the box and the box safely
in the vault when Frederick
died. Don’t try to obscure the
point at issue—what we want to
know is what you have—I beg
your pardon—what has hap
pened to it since that time.”
Artnand waited with polite
condescension until the duke had
finished, then he ignored him and
addressed the council.
“My lords,” he said, “you are
confronted by a most unpleasant
duty: Valeria must have a
king, and you must choose him,
either Ferdinand of Lotzen or
myself. We cannot wait until
the laws are found. I claim the
throne by presumptive right;
he, by a right admitted to be
subordinate to mine. In the ab
sence of the decrees my title is
paramount, and the royal dignity
falls on me. If the laws be re
covered, and under them I am
not king, I will abdicate, in
stantly.”
Lotzen had come back to the
table and resumed his favorite
attitude of leaning over the back
of a chair.
“Charming, indeed, charm
ing!” he chuckled. “Make me
king, and if the Laws unmake me
I will abdicate when they are
recovered—when — they — are
—recovered! Do you fancy,
messieurs, they would ever be re
covered ?”
Count Epping saved the arch
duke the necessity of ansper
“Your highness’ argument,”
h-e observed, “is predicted on the
hypothesis that the Archduke
Armand has possession of the
book of laws and is concealing it
because it would, if exhibited,
prove him ineligible to the
throne.”
“Admirably stated!” said
Lotzen.
“But,” Epping went on, “you
cannot expect the council to ac
cept any such hypothesis”—and
all the ministers nodded—“we
must assume that neither you
nor the archduke knows aught of
the book, and whatever action
we do take must be upon the
distinct condition, agreed to,
here and now, by you both, that
when the laws are found—as
found they surely will be—the
succession shall be determined
instantly by them. Are you will
ing,” — addressing Lotzen —
“that the council, of which you
are one, shall settle it, pending
the recovery of the laws!”
“No, I am not,” said the duke
abruptly; “but pending election
by the house of nobles, I am con
tent.”
The prime minister watched
the duke meditatively for a mom
ent, then turned to the archduke
inquiringly.
“I am content, even as his
highness of Lotzen,” said Ar
mand ; he saw where the play
was leading, and the other’s next
move' and he was not minded
to balk him; there was likely
to be a surprise at the end.
The count faced the council.
“The matter is before you,”
he said. “Having in view the
laws and circumstances, as we
know them, to whom shall we
confide the government?” and
with a bland smile, he looked at
the minister of justic—who, as
the junior member, would have
to vote first.
Retz stirred uneasily and
glanced furtively at Lotzen. He
was not inclined to go so rapid
ly, or, at least, so openly. Had
he apprehended any such pro
ceeding he would have remained
at home, ill, and let his dear col
leagues bear the unpleasant bur
dens. It was an appalling di
lemma. He wanted to vote for
Lotzen—yet he was sure that
Armand would be chosen. If he
voted for Armand, he would bear
the duke’s everlasting enmity,
and, in the end, the laws or the
nobles might give him the crown,
i If he voted for Lotzen, and Ar
mand were chosen, he lifted him
self out of the council, and ended
his career if eventually the
! American won. He ran his eye
[around the table and caught the
smile on every face, and mentally
I he consigned them all to death
and perdition. Then he heard
Epping’s voice again:
“\Ve are waiting, Monsieur le
Baron.
But Lotzen came to his relief
—quite unintentionally; he alone
| had not noted Retz’s emlmrrass
jmeut, having been reading a pa
| per he had taken from his pock
el book.
i ‘‘One moment, if you please,”
he said. ”1 take it, that what
'may give the Archduke Armaud
: preference over me in his claim
I for the crown, is the presumptive
right of the eldest male. If, how
ever, by the laws, he is specif re
ally deprived of the right and
made ineligible to the crown,
save under two conditions, I as
sume the presumption would be
reversed, and lie would be dis
qualified for the succession un
til he had proved, by the laws
themselves, his rehabilitation?”
The words were adressed U
Epping, and the answer wa»
[prompt and to the point:
‘‘Your proposition begs the sit
uation,” he said; “it needs the
laws to prove it.”
The duke laughed. “No, it
doesn’t. I will prove it out of
the mouth of the Archduke Ar
mand himself.” He held up the
paper. “Here is a copy of the
Great Henry’s decree reinstating
Hugo. I made it months ago
being, it would seem, wiser than
1 knew. With the first portion
the council is already familiar.
Frederick having quoted it to
you the day the Archduke Ar
mand was presented; but of the
last sentence, unfortunately, he
made no mention; and it is that
which governs now. His royal
highness is fully acquainted with
the original, and if my copy is
not accurate he can make denial
—nav, further, if he deny, I will
accept whatever correction he
may offer . . . Surely, cousin,
that is fair and honest—shall I
read it—or will you?”
Armand smiled indifferently.
" You can do it with much better
effect,” he answered.
“Will you have all of it or
only the last sentence?”
“All of it.”
i-iotzen smiled maliciously.
“The sweet as well as the bitter,
cousin mine, with the bitter at
the end.” Then he tossed the pa
per across to Epping. “Will
your excellency read itf” he
said.
With a glance at the archduke
for permission, the count com
plied :
‘Section one hundred-fifth
—Whereas, we have learned that
our second son, Hugo, hath
served with much honor in the
American army under General
Washington, and hath, since the
termination of hostilities, mar
ried into a good family in one of
the said American states, called
Maryland, and hath assumed res
idence therein; and whereas he
hath never sought aid from us
nor sued for pardon; Now, there
fore, in recognition of his valour
and self reliance and true Dal
berg independence, it is decreed,
that section one hundred twenty
one, supra, be annulled; and
Hugo’s name is hereby reinstat
ed on the family roll in its prop
er place, the same as though nev
er stricken therefrom. And it is
further decreed that the marri
age of Hugo and the marriage
of his descendents shall be
deemed lawful, the same as
though their respective consorts
were of the blood royal. The ti
tles conferred upon Hugo shall,
however, remain in abeyance un
til claimed anew by him or by
his right heir male-’ ”
“And now, my lords, attend,”
Latzen cut in. “Your pardon,
Monsieur Te Comte, pray pro
ceed.”
The old man paused a moment
in rebuke, then resumed:
“ ‘Nor shall the latter be eligi
ble to the crown unless herein
after specifically decreed so to
be—or in event of a vacancy in
the royal dignity without such
decree having been so made, then
by special act of the house of
nobles.
“Henry IIr, Rex.
“Ye 17th of Sept., A. D. 1785.”
The prime minister slowly put
down the paper, and every one
looked at the archduke—what
would be his answer? There was
no doubt that Lotzen had scored
heavily, so heavily, indeed, that
Rctz made no effort to restrain
his smile.
“Does his royal highness deny
the correctness of the copy and
that the decree is as read?” the
duke asked.
“I have never seen the de
cree,” said Armand, “and my—
pray have the courtesy, sir,” (as
Lotzen laughed and shrugged
his shoulders) “to wait until I’ve
finished—and my only knowl
edge of it is from hearing it read
by the king, the day he offered
me my inheritance; but if my
recollection be accurate, the de
eree is as you have it.”
In a flash the situation had be
come reversed, and it was now
Armaud against whom the pre
sumption ran; and it was he, and
no tFerdinand, who required the
laws to prove his claim.
A heavy silence followed. Then
into the stillness cut the duke’s
taunting laugh.
“Exit the American,” he
sneered. “Vale the foreign pre
tender.”
It was, he knew, into Armand’s
most vulnerable spot and, like
the coup de grace, he had saved
it until last; yet to his astonish
ment, it brought only a contemp
tuous smile and an irgnoring
stare._
(To Be Continue^ Next Week)
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