An Imperial Marriage

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 17, 20 January 1909, Page 9

An Imperial Marriage

(All rights reserved.)

CHAPTER IV. • EPHRAIM ZIEGLER. Althea's statement—that yon Felsen had pressed her to marry him—made it plain to mc that he was pulling the strings in everything; although why he should endeavour to secure her arrest in order to further his purpose, baffled mc. If his motive was jealousy, however, it was possible that he would call a halt when he learnt the truth about the Prince. I urged Althea to let mc tell him, but she would not. Her quixotic regard for Chalice stood in the way. Nor would she adopt the alternative advice I tendered—that "Aunt Charlotte" should leave Berlin as secretly and mysteriously as she had arrived. Nothing was left for mc, therefore, but to cast about for some other means of dealing with yon Felsen. In the meantime I knew he would lose no time in confirming his suspicions as to Althea's whereabouts. This was soon made plain. I was speaking to Bessie when yon Bernhoff's card was brought to us; and when In was shown up, yon Felsen was with him. Yon BernhoflF introduced him to Bessie, and he made himself insinuatingly polite to her. A lot of small talk followed: a good deal of it about my interrupted journey; and yon Rernhof asked if I was going on the following day. "I don't think Aunt Charlotte wili le tyou go, Paul," said Bessie, who was as cool and self-possessed as possible. "Frau Ellicott has come then?" said yon Bernhoff, who had known of the intended visit. "I shall be glad to see her again. She is a charming lady." "She arrived this morning," said Bessie in the most matter-of-fact tone. "You should see Frau Ellicott," said yon Bernhoff to yon Felsen, who had pricked up his ears at this. "She is a perfect type of an English lady."

"I shall hope for the honour of being presented," he smirked.

"She will be delighted, I am sure. Lieutenant yon Bernhoff is a favourite of hers, and any friend of his may count upon her good graces." I thought Bessie was carrying things a bit too far; but yon Felsen was keeping an eye on mc, and I could not warn her. "To-day she has a bad headache. You may remember how a journey upsets her."

"Ah, yes, indeed"; and yon Bernhoff shrugged his shoulders with agesture of commiseration. "I remember too how interested she was in Fraulein Chalice Mennerheim- More than once Bhe has spoken to mc in raptures about her voice."

"She is passionately fond of music and used to be a great singer herself," was Bessie's absolutely composed reply.

"Thiß news about Fraulein Korper will interest her greatly, then," interjected yon Felsen; and I saw why Chalice'j name had been aragged in so clumsily.

Bessie was on the,, point of replying when we heard footsteps in the room overhead, and the sound of someone singing the jewel song from Faust. Then the door above was opened and the voice sounded nearer. The singer came downstairs. "One of Fraulein Chalice's songs," said yon Felsen, with a grin. Bessie rose. She was quite cool. "Aunt Charlotte must be better, Paul. I'll go and see if she will not come down to see Lieutenant yon Bernhoff." Yon Felsen hastened to open the door for her, and took the opportunity of glancing up the stairs. "She has a young voice, your aunt," he said to mc as he closed the door behind Bessie. "She is no longer a young woman, as you will see." "If she is well enough to come to us," he retorted meaningly. "At any rate her headache is better," grinned yon Bernhoff; and then we sat in silence until Bessie returned, laughing merrily. "A most ridiculous mistake, Paul. I don't know how we could be so stupid. It was Ellen singing—our maid, you know," she added to the others. "Aunt Charlotte opened the door to tell her to be quiet. She is very angry at. having been woke up." Then came another mi3hap. The two men were murmuring their obviously insincere regrets when Ellen entered and said the Prince yon Graven wished to see mc. "Show him up," I said, with a sort of feeling that nothing mattered now. Yon Felsen gave such a leer of triumph that I could have kicked him. "He is, indeed, an intimate friend of yours, Bastable. Two visits in one day;" and with that the two men went, meeting the Prince on the landing.

"I could almost cry with vexation," whispered Bessie. "It's too serious for tears, Bess. Was Althea coming down here?"

She nodded. "I was just in time to stop her."

"She might almost as well have come," I grunted. "You had better leave mc alone with the Prince. Try and persuade Althea to make a bolt of it."

The interview with the Prince was very short. Eagerness to learn the result of my visit to Chalice had brought him together with the desire to tell mc he had found out that the arrest was not ordered by the Kaiser, who knew nothing about it. I told him what had passed between Chalice and myself. "I was afraid of it; but of course she must have her own way," he declared feebly.

"Do you think she has the right to ruin Fraulein Althea, then?"

"It is most perplexing, baffling. I do not see what to do."

"Not to .tell the truth is simply cowardly," I said with some warmth. "Herr Bastable!" and he drew himself up to his full height. "To place one woman in danger merely for another woman's caprice is cowardly, Prince yon Graven. And you are chiefly responsible." "Do you speak in this way with Fraulein Althea's sanction?" ' "On the contrary, she is all too willing to sacrifice herself." "Then it is scarcely pertinent to the matter." "Pertinent or impertinent, it is the truth," I declared bluntly, disgusted at his indifference to Althea's welfare. j "Are you seeking to force a quarrel upon mc, sir?" "No. lam merely trying to rouse you to do what you ought to do." "il am the best judge of that." "Then we may as well end the interview"; and I threw open the door.

Arthur W. Marchmont Author of "By Right of Sword," "When I was Czar." etc,

He was bursting with indignation. 'M am extremely disappointed in you, Herr Bastable." "A mutual feeling, I assure you, Prince"; and I bowed him out. I was glad to be rid of him. His news—that the arrest was not at the Kaiser's bidding—confirmed my belief that I must deal with yon Felsen as the chief instigator, and I must lose no time in getting to work to checkmate him. I knew a good deal about him. He had lived a wastrel, dissipated life, and was deep in the hands"of the Jews; and the fact that I had seen him with Hagar Ziegler led mc to think I could get from her father what I wanted—something discreditable which would enable mc to pull him up short. Old Ephraim Ziegler was under a considerable obligation to mc. During my newspaper work I had refrained from taking a certain line, in regard to a very dirty transaction in which he was concerned, and had saved the old Jew from being prosecuted. He knew this, and had more than once expressed himself anxious to show mc some practical appreciation of that service. I was shown at once into his office, and he received one with more than unctuous servility. "Ah, herr Bastable, this is indeed an honour," he said, rubbing his fat hands together while his beady eyes searched imy face in doubt whether I had again come to undo some of his questionable work. "So you haven't forgotten mc?" "Forgotten you!" he cried, spreading wide his arms. "You are one of the only friends poor Ephraim Ziegler ever had. You come on business. A little money, eh?" "I shook my head. "Oh, no, not that." This disconcerted him somewhat. He jumped to the conclusion that it must be something unpleasant. I let him think that for a while, and, referring to one of the former cases, hinted that I had come to warn him, and that something had been discovered which might mean trouble for him. But I ended with an assurance that personally I would not do anything against him. Then I rose as if to leave.

He trembled and was very frightened; his flabby cheeks paled, and his voice shook as he pressed mc to stay. "It i= such an honour you do mc," he declared.

Thus, pressed, I resumed my seat, and we chatted about a number of matters until I brought the talk round to yon Felsen, mentioning his name casually among several others. "He's one of the flies ixi your web, you old spider," I laughed.

"He owes mc a lot of money, that young man," he said. It- was his habit to gloat over his cunning in such matters. "But it will be all right in the end." - : - "-

"Where's he to get Tt from to pay you? Not from his father."

"Not from his father; that ib true. Rut he will get it, he will get it"; and he sat pressing his finger-tips together with such an air-of satisfaction that it set mc thinking. I remembered that he was a Pole, and had been mixed up once before with one of the Polish schemes. "There are other things beside money to pay debts with, eh?" I put all the significance I could into the question, and winked at him. "You old fox!" "You almost make mc afraid of you, Herr Bastable. You get to know so much," he answered after a pause, and with a leer intended to flatter mc. "Would you like to know what I do know about this?" I laughed. "Your 'almost' would then be 'quite,' I assure you"; and I rose again as if to leave. "Oh, no, no. Don't go yet," he cried eagerly. Down I sat again with a shrug as if to please him. 'You want to find out how much I do know, eh? —But I did not come to discuss politics"—il paused intentionally on the word, and the effect satisfied me—"but just to warn you about that old Martin affair. You can't pump mc; but you'd better be careful in both concerns." His uneasiness showed that my old experience with him stood mc in good stea-d now. He had a wholesome fear of my sources of information. He paused, hunched up in his chair, and asked suddenly: "Why did you 'mention Hugo yon Felsen's name to mc?"

I had an inspiration and resolved upon a shot. I took out my cigarette case, selected one with great care, and as 1 lit it. looked across at him. "Your daughter is a very handsome girl, Ziegler."

The shot told instantly. "You mean something, Herr Basta-ble," he cried, leaning forward in his eagerness. "You are my friend. You must tell mc. 1 love my Hagar. She is the light of my life. Tell mc," he repeated.

I wished with all my heart that I could, but I could only look as if my secret knowledge would fill an encyclopaedia.

This spurred his eagerness. "Ah, my friend, my dear Herr Bastable, you must tell mc," he urged.

I shook my head. "You are a clever old spider, but—some one is blabbing. Look out." It was a safe general sort of shot and added to his mystification. He bit his nails and his eyes rolled from side to side rapidly. It was his ■way when deeply moved. "Do you mean about Hagar?" he asked at length.

I knew by this time there was something more important than Hagar behind. He would always put the less important consideration in front. "No. It's the other affair; about the " I hroke off, and his eyes fastened on mine as if to read in them the rest of )the sentence. "But ifs no affair of mine," I added with a shrug. "Why should I bother myself? But don't forget my warning."

"Do you mean we have been betrayed? That there is a spy among us?"

I turned graye for an instant. "I name no names, Ziegler; but some one gave you away the other day when you failed."

The effect of this second shot was startling. "God of my fathers, if I thought it was yon Felsen, I would " He clenched his hands in rage. I was almost as excited as he was, but I took care he should not see it. Yon Felsen was then mixed up in these Polish schemes; and if I could get at the truth, I should have him in the hollow of my hand. "It wasn't yon Felsen," I said to reassure him. "He's too deep in, and too much in your power to ohatter. You know that. And I shan't give you away. I have too much sympa-

thy with your cause. "But" it' wasn't .Yon Felsen. 1 assure you tliat, although..! bear him no good-will." I had succeeded in convincing him that! I knew a lot; and he had not a. "suspicion that I had been merely guessing on the strength of Ihe hints he himself had dropped. He sat a long time thinking, and was greatly disturbed. "You have startled mc, Herr. Bastable; but I know you sympathise; with the. cause. I know that from what you have written in your paper. Bufr why do you bear ill-will to Hugp?'*. "Hugo," eh? He spoke or thought of him by his Christian name. The inference was easy. Yon Felsen was playing a double matrimonial game. "When may one offer congratulations, Ziegler?", I asked with a smile. I could afford to smile, for I was winning, hands down. ) "It is Hagar's wish. She loves him; and she will be a countess, too." "Two excellent reasons. And meanwhile you find him useful, to get^—" Again I broke oft the sentence, and finished with a knowing smile. "You are the devil, Herr Bastanle," he replied with a laugh. * . "Well, it is at least Useful to be able to get inside information "when very important papers are in the hands of an Imperial messenger, eh?" "I don't know what you mean by that," he answered, wagging his head. I affected to take offence. "It's enough for my purposes that I do. Is it worth while to try and fool mc? I don't take to it easily, you know." "I am not trying it," he protested. "Then don't pretend that yon Felsen isn't in all this with you..-1 know too much. And now, look here, I'll tell you the Teal object of this visit. Yon Felsen is trying a fool's game with mc, and it has to stop. I know he daren't go against you, Ziegler, and you daren't gc against mc; even if your friendship for mc were less than it is." My tone alarmed him. "What-is he doing? I have influence with" him, of course." "What he is doing may turn out to touch you pretty closely; but never mind what it is for the present. Give mc a line to him—that I am your friend and that anything he does against mc is the same as if done against you." "Of course I will" he consented. He wrote a few lines quickly and handed them to mc. My dear Hugo,— "Herr Bastable is a great friend of mine. Any service to him is a service to mc; and the reverse. "Ephraim Ziegler." "That will do. And now a last word. Not a syllable to him or any one of what has passed between us to-day." "I give you my honour, my dear Herr Bastable," he agreed readily. "I shall hear if you talk, mind; and if I do—well I shall take it as a sign that I am to talk on my side. And I shall." I left him with that and walked out of his office on excellent terms with myself. I was convinced that yon Felsen was so tight in the toils that the letter I had obtained would frighten him consumedly. But I little thought of the grim results which were to flow from that afternoon's conversation. I hurried home as fast as I could, and it was fortunate that I did so. As my cab drew up r.t the door, I found yon Felsen and Dormund waiting for admittance. I saw the move at once, without yon Felsen's smug explanation. "Herr Dormund has a question to put to your sister, Bastable about Farulein Althea." .„ ._... ~>•:■ "I-trust I am -not intruding,.Herr Bastable," said Dormund apologetically; "but Herr yon Felsen tells mc Miss Bastable has expressed the wish to give mc important information." "Yon Felsen is wrong. My sister does not know any more than I do; but come into my den here and I'll see if she is at home," T replied indifferently. "Your servant has already told us that she is," put in yon Felsen. "Then I'll go and fetch her"; and I handed out my cigars and left them. It was a tight corner but of course Dormund must not see Bessie. It would at once reveal the trick I had played him at the station. Yet to deny her after Ellen's admission that she was at home would be the tamest subterfuge whihe he would see through in a second.-

There was only one course: to call yon Felsen out, face him with Ziegler's letter and make him get rid of Dormund. I was about to do this when another blow fell. Ellen came running up to mc, white of face and trembling. "There are a number of police at the door, sir." A loud knock at that instant-confirmed her words. It was a pretty fix in all truth, and I stood hesitating in perplexity what to do, when the knocking was repeated moTe insistently. Obviously there was nothing for it but to admit the police, so I sent Ellen downstairs, and prepared to meet the crisis with as bold a face as possible. (To be continued next Saturday.)