THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15560, 18 March 1914, Page 11

THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

BY ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT, Anther of "By Richt of Sword." " A Dash for n. Throne." " For Loto or Crown." " When I was Czar," " In lh<- Name of the People," "The Man Who Was Dead." " The Queen's Aclvocito," "In ■ h<> Namo of a Woman." " A Courier of Fortune," etc.

COPYRIGHT. > lI.VIM Ki: \\l - Continued ) ■\]v y '~• :i > .in c.-.lrd sufficiently [or rl e i :.'.il,-i> something of I'.vnla'f, feeling. >!•■ knew absolutely nothing of all tin,: '..,1 ~, urn I to change the relations bet" • •■'. i.s .'Hi'"i "i"' meeting at the pri:' !■ t- >iie hail been duped by a letter w ii: 'i vie thought had mine from me, and I'd evidently been left to believe in ,; 5 _, ; umeiu'- J . Then I had appeared ;ind. without, a word of explanation, had (, |,| :..!' i> uttily to accompany me, not even t-.i ■ ri ._ where I meant to take her. And I.- a it-owning error, she : ill reenr d i:"' '- the man who had killed her 1, ~!i...r Olaf. It 'a.15 e.i.-y to tee that she would be likf.y '■' mi.-truM me. Slip was eurround I h) i.ilm' friends, who were seeking t '■ r own ends solely and were ready to (■••" ■-■> her for that purpose. She knew that I i uih! f. r tier : and I could not blare.' I ••: therefore if she jumped to a wron.: u- !ti-i«ni that. 1 had chosen this wear - -•: '-i ihle wooing. 1 >'-...! .-.if ely restrain a smile at the posit ei. I «is longing to tell her what she >''■'■- ! '• -'■''< pi.illy to hear; and vet we sit ob.-t.nately silent, mile after mile, each rcsolwd that the other should be the tir.it '•> .>peak. My desire to say at least iji to relieie her mind became at lengtn ir.wn. ,'tiie, and i was on the pom: of speaking, when her own patience Uinie to an end. ■• J)-, v.vi <-tol refnso to tell me where you .re taking me'.'" she asked; and I think the anger in her tone was caused as much by her own inability to refrain from put':rig the i <tion as by my persistent silen. e. " K"r to -night to Rrakeley Towers, I,ord Valtoiin'h place, and to-morrow to the Chase' ■ " Am: why not to-night to the Chase'" "It :.- rat Iter a long story, ami I would rather tell it in the morning; but I wish you to feel perfectly assured now that I will take vim to the Chase or anywhere you «... tomorrow, and that in this matter to night I have been as loyal to you as you once said you believed "me to lie I pledge you my honour on that." She was silent for a long tim and when she .-poke next, her tone, was very different, "I am sorry I doubted you. Sir Jan ; but—" a deep sigh completed the "sentence. "1 own that 1 wae disappointed for the moment, but I understand the letter which misled you was not from me. 1 heard of it from Muriel Maltravers to-day when she reached the Chase. I learnt afterwards that you were in Duke Volga's hands and where you were ; and I have been able to induce him to let you come away with me." " Do you mean that the house we have just !»ft waa Duke Volassa's ? " she cried in amazement. " Certainly." " How did you indue* him to let me go, then? " "Tins is England, not Hungary; and such tilings cannot be done with impunity here. And now, if V ou feel entirely t--assured as to your safety, let me leave all that there is to tell you until the morning. We must be near Lord Valtoun 's house now." •' But why do you choose his house of ril ©then .' ' '■ 1 know why you ask thai, of counts but, v.hen I have told you everything, vou will not object even to that." " " " _ " Rut I do object very strongly to be indebted to him in any wav," she protested. " r "It is 100 late to protest now; and tomorrow you. will regret your words.'' " lou choose your means without much regard lor me." " To-morrow you shall choose your own " I said ; and for the rest of the" ride, only a few minutes, we did not speak. _ When we reached the Towers, however there was another contest of wills " I will not enter Lord Valtoun's house'" she declared. "Lord Valtoun is my closest friend; without hu help you would still be where we found you ; I tell you on my word that you have no cause for this refusal; and I ask you not to put this affront upon him." " I will not be a guest in his house Sir lan. " I trust you will not sav that," 1 answered a* I got out and waited for her to follow. She would not and Valtoun came ip at the moment. Seeing that something was amiss ho said he would go into the house andr tell his sister of Evala' arrival ion know my reason, Sir Ian?" said fcvala. " And I assure you there is no ground lor it. I brought you here because in mv judgment it was not safe you to return to the Chase to-night. I have given vou my word that you shall go there in the morning, and I urge you not to persist in this refusal. " I will not be a guest in Lord Valtoun s house." "Then you shall be a prisoner," I retorted. " There is no other house to which TOl can go to-night. Allow me," and I Held out my hand. "How dare you treat me like this' I am not a child." "Allow me." I repeated. "Until tomorrow, you must Jet me decide what you are to do." J " Why should I obey you ? If TOU force nje to do this 1 shall--,,h, it is intolerable ! "Allow me," I said again. |jPo you mean you will force me?" If you drive me to it, yes;" and again I held out. mv hand. , She realised then that I was intensely in earnest. "If [ yield, it is only because you force me and because vou now lam nelpless." "To-morrow you will see the injustice of such a s'.atoment as that." I said. She gave way then and got out of the far •■ I ,j,, no i, necc j v<Jur hand." She flashed angrily and went into the house, leaving in,- to fellow. Valtoun's sister met «8, and thev went a wav together, while \altoun and 1 went back to see about getting the ear put into the garage. I an no more of Kvala. until' the next morning, when 1 found her scarcely less angry and indignant than on our arrival. Indeed, she appeared In have been sulul°'™y nurhing her sense of grievance. "hill are your next orders for Vour prisoner. Sir fan : " I could not. repress a smile, That she Mould . ~is,. to Udiovi herself so deeply wronged 'he smile, aggravated her. ' I see no r'.ison lor laughter. When are mv prison Kites to be opened '" and In r eves" flashed angrily. "Ihfic aie no locks to tins prison, countess Vmi ,ne as free as air to go when and whcie you please " "Hits may .-.-em a jot to you. but, I lack your scum ~| humour. I wish to leave Mis house ,a on,,'. Every moment that you imprison in in it is an" aggravation of Jour ait. in bringing me lime."" u^'- ri ihlmt my .assurance that—" , ' '••'>' Mi iik of nothliii; but mv wish 10 '«»V. ~|„. lllteipo,ed , Urtly. „' '"' no, hi) in nioitilicatinii at, this re'«''i'n up, ~' the a.-eiiraiK.' 1 had given ' er - ""I'!"- 1.1, shall ■„. ready instantlv," 1 answ,.;,.!, , M> ~ ,„. as , ~,, ;,., ]„,,.. , ' l'■ ,v ' '' I'iiiu things to tell me," "•Mi'l , my h.oal was on the door. ' -' ls :on do ii"i accept mv word, it is i i in,- to detain you—in prison." How hi vii'i charge me with such inW'"- \\i„,; did | ~,.f u, b —" ' Abe■.. 1., |,| Valtoun. Mv assurance l hat there v,s no reason why" you should *cfuse to ~,,-er is house." " |( But you know what my reason is." 'Just as well as 1 know that there is 'longer any foundation for it." fids ought tier to her feet in strenucJis exritemeiit. " What can that mean?" Mo cried, be,- great etas lull of wonderment.

'.'I will older the cur and open the Prison gates;" and off 1 went, paying no Med to her eager call to mo to return. I ordered the car, and when I told Val»un thai Kvala wished to return to the

Chase at once, he asked me to apologise to her for his sister, who was in bed with a ] prostrating headache. j ''Co up and explain matters yourself. Bob, and then bring her down to the. car," I said, not a little curious as to how he would be received alter what had passed. <( He returned alone, looking very puzzled. "What's the matter up there? 'She's very excited, and says she must see vou before stie leaves." I went up and found Eva la pacing up and down the room. h " Are you making a jest of mv anxiety, Mr lan : she cried indignantly, the moment I opened the door. " '"he prison gates are open and the car is waiting for you.'' " V know what I mean quite well, and that before [ leave you here vou must explain what you said just now."' " I came to explain everything before, but yon declined to hear me. Nothing 'otiJd be farther from my thoughts than to jest with your anxiety." "But you have done it. You said that which roused the wildest thoughts. "' 1 'hot. Lett me. 1 waited for you to return, ,n a positive frenzy of expectation and anxietv, and then-Lord Valtoun came to take me to the car. How could 1 go, without knowing what vou meant' J here seemed to be but one 'meaning to your words—and yet that is impossible." our reason tor refusing to enter this house was because Lord Valtoun was my second in the duel with vour brother in which you believed, as we'all did. that he was killed " "Believed'" she echoed, deeply atritated. • 6 "Thank Heaven, it was only belief. Your brother Olaf is alive and is now, or was yesterday, at the Chase. It'was all von Rergste.in's doing ; but the prince knew that ho was living." " Do you realise what you are saying?" she cried, quite overwhelmed by "the news. "Valtoun was present yesterday when the admission was made, and he will confirm me in—" "Don't!" she broke in. "As if I could doubt you !" " 1 ask your pardon for not having told you at once," 1 said after a pause, bitterly repenting the stupid irritation which had prevented me. "There is much more that you must know. Let me suggest that I tell it you on our way to the Chase?" "Yes, yes," she agreed. "Let us hurry there at once." CHAPTER XXII. AT THE CHASE AGAIN. As I had not told Valtoun anything about Evala's reluctance to enter the Towers, he did not understand the reason for the apologies she made to him and was rather confused than enlightened by them; and his confusion was increased when she held out her hand to bid him goodbve. Valtoun is going with us," I explained, restaining a smile at his doleful look. " With your permission, of course."

"If I can be of any service to you. countess," he said anxiously; and when she assented, his face brightened instantly and he entered the car with alacrity. I lost no more time in telling Evala what had occurred.

" You must be prepared to find your brother, as both the prince and von Bergstein described him, impossible as the prince's successor," I concluded. He is ill in both body and mind and, although proper care and treatment may do him good, he can never be anything but impossible." " Do you mean that he is an imbecile?" " You will see him and judge for yourself."

"Poor Olaf!" she said with a deep sigh of pity " lan got our friend, Arbuthnot, one of the best men of the day, to see him," said Valtoun "And that is his opinion." Evala was silent for a while. " You think that Baron von Bergstein went so far as to betray me to Duke Volassa?" she asked.

"I have every reason to believe it," I said.

"We know it," declared Valtoun. " You've got the letter in which the whole thing was arranged, lan." " You did not tell me that," said Evala, turning to me. " How did you get such a letter as that?"

" Drago got it." "But Drago, as you say, is only a spy, You would not believe him?"

"Lan has only told half that part of the story," interposed Valtoun. "We went to the Chase last night and were present when Drago took it out of the old .scoundrel's pocket." I shook my head at Valtoun, but he went on to describe the scene. " The countess must know all about that, lan," he added to me. "The man's a scoundrel; and there's no use blinking the fact." And what followed?"

"I told you last night," I made haste to answer before Valtoun could speak. " We went to Volassa and proved to him that in England he could not attempt to detain you." " I was to have crossed to the Continent this morning," said Evala. "Why are you motioning to Lord Valtoun in that way? Is this another half-told portion of Che story? You will tell me?" she asked Valtoun.

"There is really nothing more to be told," I said. " The duke is a man of honour and when I said it was a matter for the police, he gave way, and we were allowed to bring you from the house." " You amaze me. That a man like the duke should give in at a mere threat of the police?"

" That he did so is proved by the fact that you are on your way to the Chase this morning instead of to the Continent," I answered with a shrug of tho shoulders. "It is almost incredible," she said, glancing from me to Valtoun, who, as I could see, was bursting with the desire to fill the gap in the story and tell her about the duelIt was very far from my wish that she should know of it, so I led away from the subject. "May I suggest that there is only one question which matters now. What you propose to do?" The curiosity in her expressive face changed to grave concern. "It is all so strange and so—so difficult," she said after a long pause ; and very little more was spoken by any of us until we reached the Chase. Keenly anxious as I was to learn what the effect the fact that her brother was alive would have upon Evala's attitude toward me, 1 could not yet ascertain it. She did not let fall a word nor give a sign which helped me. She had been deeply affected when 1 had first told her: but the strange character of the news and the. knowledge that for so many vears she had believed him dead were quite enough to cause the agitation she had shown. It was quite nusßible not " single thought had crossed ! tier mind that the barrier between us which she had declared insuperable hud been swept away. To her the news meant the entire reversal of the plan which had been shaping her life and inspiriting her every act. H,e.c first impression would bo that she was no longer next in succession to the prince; and whether the prospect of a throne pleased or displeased her, the slid den belief that it might be no longer open i to her was startling enough to eclipse all other considerations for the time. 'Hie fact that her brother was virtually an imbecile, added to the proofs I had given of von Bergstein's treachery, would show her the heavy load of responsibility winch would rest upon her. She would understand that she might still be heir to the throne, and that it must rest with her, and only with her. to decide whether tiie attempt to achieve the independence of her country should be dropped or continue: and. in the latter case, the supreme direction of everything would be in her hands. Recognising all this, as I did, I was nevertheless conscious of a certain amount of disappointment that she gave no sign that, she knew the bar between us existed no longer. A lover is necessarily (in egoist, It meant so much to me, that I was piqued to find it seemed so little to her; and this feeling decided the course I meant to take. " Shall we find von Bergstein here''" asked Valtoun, when we reached the Chase; and the question roused both Evala and me from our thoughts. "1 hope not," she answered. (To be continued daily.)