THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10925, 14 November 1913, Page 8

THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

r*# (By ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT.)

%/4; "):■„. Author of *Wh«a I wu C»ar," "The Qu&en'o Advocate," «to«tt&

:: ;- CHAPTER XXIV. >)~ £ EVALA ASSERTS HERSELF. Prince Osca was in a furious temper, 'end /was literally trembling with rago US-he turned on me. ~ '/I am amazed to find ycu have the Jiardihood to come hero, sir. I could scarcoly believe tho news when I hoard ft, and I insist that you leave this itj&use at once." ',: Evala attempted to protest, hut ho would not listen to her. -._ " I>on't speak to me. I know this •man's object, and I will not have him. }bere. He has done his utmost to injuro my oauso and every moment that he here adds to the wrong he has done me. Leave tho house, sir."

" Does your Highness know the cirotmistences under which " "I want to "know nothing more about Leave tho house, I say." " You will not go, Sir lan, please," said Evala firmly.

"Silenoe, Evala I How dare you set xa© at^defianoe?" '» Sho met his indignant stare, very steadily, quite unmoved by his passion: and, as I knew that he went in considerable awe of her, I was not surprised that he began to wilt before her Jfesolute look. '. "I am not setting you fit defiance; tbtrb in your anger you are doing an xnfcuatice to me aa much as to Sir Inn yalmadale. And I will not submit to J&at oven from you." ' v - ."Do you mean that I have no right say who shall come here?" h "I mean that if you send Sir lan 'away without hearing what hes occur'.red and why he is here, I shall also 'leave the house." . " Evala 1"

.'i " You know whether I shall keep my frord."

■' "I/beg you not to.allow me to be a aauee of disagreement," I said, extremely uncomfortable at the turn, matters' were taking. . '' Nothing that even you can say, .Sir lan, will alter my decision," she declared.

( '"I hope you are proud of this result -ofvyour influence, sir," sneered the 'Prince* , u ,"iiy reason.is this. If you drive Sir ■lan from The Chase and leave me in /the power of Baron von Bergstein. it forould not be safe for mo to remain.

i "I am not surprised that he has .poisoned you against the Baron, our 4>est friend in all respoote."

. "You had better read this letter, Written to 'our best friend,' by Duke jVolassa, from whose house . Sir lan me last night; and meanwhile ■f ?vnlFflend fox the Baron that he may .explain it.",. s [.•She gave him the letter and rang tho Vjbell, and sent for the Baron, Count tugo.and Valtoun. '"A mere forgery, I suppose," said She Prince contemptuously as he took jit;-but bis look changed as he read •».' '" How did you get thisP" he ask-

"It -was found in the Baron's possession and it enabled Sir lan Cahndale (and his friend. Lord Valtoun, to find >e."

\ The Prinoe was intensely disconcerted; and he bad good reason to be. It was clear that von Bergstein had sent aor 'him to get rid of me, and, as he gwas in the Baron's power and the la-t-W beld the purse strings, the dilemma sraa profoundly awkward. To dismiss f' J - u 's Baron would cause the stoppage of >plies, while to send me packing ant a quarrel with Evala, on whose ~. operation the success or failure of fthe whole scheme depended. |, When von Bergstein came he was "Evidently confident that the Prince {dared not lake any action against but his confidence was shaken VhefLhe found that he had to deal with,; Evala, and that hers and not her lather's was the dominating influence «it - the moment. Count Lugo came fc-ith him and his glance at me showed fcbat he also waa looking for my discomfiture.

.'•'I; have sent for you, Baron, that you' may explain to me the meaning of; the letter from Duke Volassa which in your possession by Sir Calmadale and 'Lord Valtoun last night," said Evala, whose tone and .bearing could not have been more digInified/liad she been already a queen, i '."I am sorry to gather from your Excellency's manner that I have already been tried and condemned. Yet fche explanation is very simple. Permit me. to see the letter."

"'While he read it, I whispered to ktValtoim what had occurred. • * "It is as I thought. Since the letjter iras stolen from me, it has been garbled; but that is no matter": and %b tossed it down. " I received information that Volassa had some such defsign; as this against you, Countess, and >1 got Into correspondence with him in "order to draw his plans from liini. ."Under a pretence of helping him, I jtas successful in getting that letter, ancbl was taking steps to deal with him when I was betrayed, first by the ;£act : that your Excellency and Miss left here secretly, and. secondly by the scoundrel who drove Sroxit car." v>_.v*.There, you hear, Evala," cried the Prince,, in great relief. - " I hear, of course, hut I do not Jyelieve the explanation" replied Evala Sicily. " A former attempt of the 'same kind was made at Southampton, .'and there was no scoundrelly chaufjfenr to be put forward as the scapegoat, in, that instance." Von Bergstein protested his innocence with much show of virtuous indignation and with many appeals to the Prince on the score of services .rendered to the cause; but Evala was .'not moved in the least by his denials. I "DuTce Volassa acknowledged that jin© letter was from him and that he h&d acted upon it. Is not that so?" khe asked, turning to Valtoun and t ( jne. J "Certainly it is," said Valtoun. L " And I nave no doubt he would pb&mit it to you," I added. "He is a j'an&n of honour, I am convinced." : Evala paused a moment in thought. •"•That will he the best way. I believe j,wrfch you, Sir lan, that he is a man of itonour, and Baron, von Bergstein %ill no doubt be glad to have such a 4est-applied'to his own good faith." [ "He would be only too glad to welfome a chance of alienating me from lis Highness," said ■ von Bergstein. "He is not likely to bear me much food will after my having tricked im."

She saw through tills pretence and ehook her head. "He will tell us the whole circumstances of the intrigue. You will leave •The Chase at once, Baron., and you |,will not return, unless your explanation is proved to be true." I " Yonr Highness will not see this [•done—this open humiliation put upon jme." I But to his surprise, and greatly to pnine, the Prince sided with Erala. F'The matter is a very grave one. and nnasfc he settled, Baxon, at any cost. It Sua not any humiliation for you to take t few days' holiday. It will he simple pnough to give a reason for your absence." f At that von Bergstein lost his selfpsontrol entirely. His eyes blazed with gfaryj and, to the Prince's consternating he broke out into a wild harangue, jreproaohing him bitterly with his in<erat£tude, denouncing in violent terms life, which, he declared was

ruining the cause, and giving somo luridly unsavoury details, to which Evala" listened with dismay and humiliation. I'ho Prince cowered beneath the storm like a frightened child, and made tome feeble attempts at denial, but von Bergstein, bos/do himself with rago, would not be stopped. Feeling that our presence added to Evala's embarrassment, I turned to leave the room and take Valtoun with me. But she stopped us. ".Sir Lan, may I ask you to see that Baron von Bergstein leaves Tho Chase at once?'' Sho spoke with quiot firmness. "He is not to enter his rooms again. After what lias passed, Baron, you will not return here so long as 1 am in the house. Your personal belongings shall bo sent to you; but it is necessary that your papers should be examined carefully." He began to bluster, evidently ■ in great concern at this; but she appealed to me and Valtoun, so we hurried him out of the room, spluttering and protesting and oathing in a fine frenzy, and did not leave hint for an instant until we had seen him clear of tho gates. " Going to be a stiffish job, lan," said Valtoun, when tho car had gone. " His people here will make things as hot for you as they can. I expect they're all in his pay."

" It's a devil of a business altogether?" We went first to von Bergsteiu's rooms, and, as tho secretary was not there, I locked tho door and took tho keys away to give them to Evala. Muriel mot ud> as wo came out, and, after we had given her tho news about the Baron, she told us the position of matters in the house.

The whole place had been under his absolute control, and every soul in it had taken orders from him. Thero were about a dozen > men who were lodged in a separate wing of the house who, she declared, were all his creatures, in his pay and ready to do virtually anything he told them. They were mostly Hungarians, represented by him to be staunch adherents of Prince Osca and members of influential Hungarian families, but, according to her, mere riff-raff fortune-hunters, representing nobody but themselves, ami their only motive for being at The Chase was that they had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do to earn a living. '*' Looks pretty much like the breakup of things," said Valtoun. " No. Evala will go through with it," declared Muriel_ emphatically. " She wouldn't give in if she stood absolutely alone, so long as she believed it was the right thing to do." "But you'don't believe in it?" he asked.

She looked very grave. "I did not so long as that old Baron was left to pull the strings; but it will be different now. I didn't beljeve she would have dared to send him away; but if it isn't too late—l mean if his intriguing hasn't done too much mis* chief—she may still succeed. She ha* a wonderful power in inspiriug people." "Do you think these fellows here ■will make trouble?" asked Valtoun. "It depends who butters their bread she replied contemptuously. " Now about the other arrangements in the house," she said after a pause. She took us to the rooms which Evala and herself and the Countess Viralmi used on the floor above in the main portion of the house and then explained other matters in which I took a little interest; so that, after a time. I left the two together and went out into the grounds. It was, indeed, a devil of a business. I knew that if Evala decided to go fiirther, she would have to make drastic changes in all directions, for they were certainly necessary; but what the effect would be was very doubtful.

For one thine von Bergstein's friends would have to be turned out neck and crop. It would then be essential to ascertain at first hand what the feeling was among those-people in Hungary whose opinions and influence counted; since it was useless to think of depending upon any representations which von Bergstein had made. He had been exploiting the thing solely in his own interests and would say anything that suited the purpose of the moment.

So far as I could see, there waß not one single individual on whom the slightest reliance could be placed, and that it would be possible to carry through a scheme or this far-reaching nature under such conditions looked like a sheer impossibility.

Yet I shared Muriel's belief that Evala would not, give it up and that no difficulties nor dangers nor obstacles would influence here, if she were onco convinced that that was the right course. And, in that case, I should find myself in the position of a Secretary of State where there was no State, Counsellor to a Queen without a Throne, helping the woman I loved to become the wife of another man for whom she shared the deep contempt I felt for him; and this for a cause in which I had neither belief nor sympathy. That this was likely to be the run of matters I found when she sent for me an hour or so later. The Prince and she were alone, and, judging by her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes and his sullen look and depressed manner, the conference had been very frank and the results exceedingly distasteful to him. But her victory had been complete and he was as clay in her virile resolute hands.

"I have explained to my father the precise position of matters to far as you are concerned. Sir lan, and he desires to tell you how cordially he invites .your advice and assistance at this juncture," she said, every syllable crisp and firm and ringing with determination. Cordial he certainly was not, if his manner meant anything, for he looked as if he would very much have preferred to kick mo out of the house. " That is so," ho said. "We shall welcome your co-operation, Sir lan." "In consequence of what has occurred in regard to Baron von Bergstein, my father feels that it is necessary that he himself should reside here for the future, so that he may be in closer touch with everything," she continued; and then, of course, I understood the cause of his discomfiture. She had insisted that the West End fiat and all that it meant must be given up. " I feel that I have allowed the Barou'too free a hand, Sir lan," he said, with an attempt to save his face; " and he has abused my confidence. And my hope is that, so far as practicable, you will take up his work." "I am honoured my your Highness's confidence," I murmured with appropriate humility; and then a long conference followed on the general position.

The discussion was mainly between Evala and myself, for the Prince was evidently resigned to the necessity of leaving the future arrangements to her. As I had feared, she was convinced that her duty was to persevere in achieving the independence of her country, it' the influential Hungarian nobles desired it and their support could be obtained. t: But on this we are both absolutely resolved," she declared, and' her face glow.ed with enthusiasm; '' oia" cause shall be spotless in purity of thought, motive and act. ;We beljeve that;ft is

both just and necessary in tho interests of our country; and it is because Ave know that our honour and that of our cause will bo safe in your lia-iuls that the Princo accepts your offer to assist him, Sir .hin." That- others bosido the Princo himself would rebel against a campaign which was to bo conducted on the lines she indicated. 1 hod no doubt and waseoou to have unmistakable proof. But she was in dead oarne.st. My first duty was to arrange for the, closing of the flat. Tho Princo was not to return there; and T got Valtoun to see to the immediate removal of his personal belongings to 'Hie Chase. While that was being done, Evala and 1 went through von Bergsteiu's papers and found in them abundant ovidenco of his double-dealing. Ho bad aimed to make himself the pivot upon which everything turned and had been very successful. All correspondence with the supporters abroad had been carried on by him; ho was tho medium for all tho" financial support of the cause, a very largo amount of which had been obtained' by tho grossest misrepresentations and the wildest of promises of future rewards; and ib was quite clear that hy all ho was regarded as the one person who might make success possible and # tho only individual who counted. When we had finished with the papers, wo drew up a short statement of the reasons why ho had been sent about his business. This was to be signed by both Evala and her father, and sent to such of tho supporters abroad as it was considered necessary to inform of the change. It was in drafting this document that _ Count Lugo's tiamo had to be mentioned. "It will bo well to include some reference to the future course of matters," I suggested. "As your betrothal to Count Lugo was von Bergsteiu's suggestion, it may bo thought that you have abandoned that intention in getting rid of him." "It is not abandoned, of course," sho replied without hesitation. "But it must depend to some extent upon the opinion of our friends. You are right that it should be mentioned that we may learn their opinion." "There is also the matter of your brother's" return."

"That is arranged already. Ho has signed a formal renunciation _of his claim to the succession. But it would be better not to refer to that, surely, lest it should create misunderstanding" Thus I had to draft what was tantamount to the death sentence upon my own hopes in regard to Evahi. But I succeeded in doing it without evincing a sign of my feelings. She understood, however, and her hand trembled as she read it.

"It is for my country," she said, her grave eyes fixed on me. and I knew the thought which inspired the words. "There is one other question to settle," I replied, changing the subject at once. "What is to be done about von Bergstein's people here?" and added that, in my opinion, they should bo cleared out of the house instantly. She did not agree without some hesitation, believing that there were some of them on whom reliance could be placed; but in the end gave way, and I was left to send them awav.

I lost no time about it. I regarded them as von Bergstein's spies, and was convinced that he would use his influence to make trouble. So I went straight to their wing of the house and told them to go. It was not a pleasant interview. They knew of von Bergstein's dismissal, and set it down to my account, and, as they had evidently' been expecting similar treatment, they were not slow to express their bitter resentment towards me. It was only when I threatened to send for tho police and turn them out that they yielded. I breathed all the more freely for their departure. Lest they should make trouble, it was essential that we should have some reliable people about us, so Valtonn and I talked the matter over in the grounds that evening, and agreed that some of his people and one or twq of mine should be brought to the house. In the course of the discussion, Muriel joined us; and after a time she and Valtoun wandered off together, leaving me to my thoughts. I had ample matter for them in tho changed position of affairs and the strange responsibilities which had thus unexpectedly been placed on my shoulders; and I was engrossed in this way when I was suddenly attacked from behind. A heavy blow, meant for my head, no doubt,* fell on my shoulder, and at the same moment a cloth was flung over my head, and I was seized and draesred back under the trees close by. "Utter a sound and it'll be your last," growled a voice in my ear with a fierce oath, and I felt the prick of a knife.

I recognised the voice as that of one of von Bergstein's men. The trouble had come even sooner than I had anticipated. (To be continued.)