CHAPTER XIX.
PRINCE ALBREVICS.
When I came to think over that promise to Gatrina, to furnish proofs of the army’s intentions, I felt I had sawn off a log which I might find too big to haul. And the thought made me considerably uneasy.
I had given the pledge in a moment of excitement; and now that I was cool, the difficulty of keeping it looked very formidable indeed.
It troubled me a good deal more than the frank declaration of war from Elma—although that promised quite sufficient embarrassments of its own. That she would keep her word I had no doubt; and I might gamble on it that she would do her worst.
Yet in one respect it cleared my course. There was no longer any sort of use in finessing with the Russian party. Elma knew too much for me to think of being able to deceive her; while her preposterous condition that there should be a sham renewal of our old engagement was too repugnant and preposterous to be entertained for an instant.
Neither was there any thought of coquetting with the Court. That involved apparent acquiescence in the scheme for Gatrina’s marriage; the very thing I was firmly bent upon stopping at any cost.
I was thus confirmed in my decision of the previous day to secure the influence of the army, and to trust to that to carry me through. But it was just in that respect I had increased my difficulties by the pledge to Gatrina. I could only keep it by getting Colonel Petrosch to back up my statement to her; and here was the trouble.
I recalled Nikolitch’s advice to speak plainly to the Colonel about Gatrina; but it was the one subject of all others which I was altogether disinclined to discuss with him.
And the disinclination was strengthened when he and Nikolitch arrived; for he looked about the last individual in the world whom I would have chosen for a confidence of the kind.
His appearance impressed me mainly with a sense of cold, inflexible, unsympathetic strength and capacity. He was a hatchet-headed man in the fifties, with a long, narrow, keen, undemonstrative face; one of those straight, thin-lipped mouths which seem intended for the close guardianship of secrets; and an abnormally long heavy chin which suggested resolute purpose, dogged persistence and perhaps cruelty; while his piercing, hard, close-set eyes tended to confirm this suggestion of cruelty. Altogether he was capable of being an ugly enemy.
He was sparing of words in the interview; and whatever he had guessed as to the real motives of my presence in Belgrade he was careful to let no hint of it appear; and he went straight to the pith of our meeting.
He expressed great pleasures in seeing me, gave Nikolitch a word of praise for his share in having brought the meeting about, said he understood I wished to secure the influence of the army in certain eventualities, and then asked me point blank whether I meant to help the existing Government financially.
I answered guardedly that I was not as yet satisfied of the present stability of things, but that when there was a really stable Government I should be prepared to guarantee a loan.
“Would you regard as sufficiently stable a new Government having the united army at its back?”
“Yes, if founded without violence and commanding the support of the country.”
He thought this over a moment. “It is all we can ask,” he said. “Will you put that in writing, Mr. Bergwyn?”
I assented, and he immediately placed materials before me and waited in silence while I wrote out an undertaking on the lines I had indicated. This I read aloud to him, and he marked every word, suggesting one or two trifling alterations. I made these and then held the paper ready to hand to him. I did this to convince him I was earnest; and then I opened up the other matter.
“If I give you this it amounts to a pledge that I take the side of the army, Colonel Petrosch. What am I to receive in exchange?”
“I do not think I understand you.”
“You are gaining much by this agreement—the assurance that the financial help required by the Government will not be found by me. To be candid I want something in return.”
“Whatever the committee of officers can in fairness pledge the new Government to do, they will—but you will be able to make your terms then.”
“I want the assistance of your party now.”
“In what way?”
“My friend Nikolitch has told you I am especially concerned for the safety of the Princess Gatrina.”
“Yes.” Not the ghost of a feeling even of interest did he shew.
“I wish to be assured of her safety.”
“There can be no difficulty in giving such an assurance,” he answered after a moment’s thought. “So far as I am personally concerned I would do my utmost. But you have some further question to put, I see.”
“She is, I think, coming here to-day. I wish her to be convinced of the feeling of the army, and that the officers are unanimously resolved upon their course of action.”
There was a pause, and I saw Nikolitch glance at me in astonishment and from me to the Colonel.
“This is a very grave request, Mr. Bergwyn,” said Petrosch slowly. “Do you realise that you are asking me, one of the leaders of the army, to reveal our intentions to one of the Queen’s closest friends?”
“You are gaining much from this—” and I held up the paper—“I am gaining nothing.”
“I fear I cannot do it, Mr. Bergwyn,” he said, reluctantly. “I might be very gravely compromised, to say nothing of the risk to be run.”
“What risk?”
“That the news would be carried straight to the Queen.”
“It has been carried already,” I said.
“How do you mean?”
“I was at the Palace last night and I heard from one who has ample means of knowledge, that the plans of the army had been divulged to the Court, and that diligent inquiries had been made in consequence. That risk is therefore nothing.”
“Do you mean there are traitors amongst us?”
“I deem it extremely probable,” I said, drily.
“I cannot think where?” he declared after a pause.
“Is it the practice of traitors to advertise themselves?”
“This is very grave news—very grave, indeed.”
“Not perhaps so grave as you think—for the result of the inquiries made was to satisfy the Court of the loyalty of the army as a whole.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t talk just for talk’s sake, Colonel.”
“But it would be very different if I myself were to see the Princess. No, I fear I cannot do that.”
“Very well. Then I’ll tear up this paper and we’ll call the matter off.”
“You are asking too much of me, Mr. Bergwyn. I must have time to consult others.”
“I never change my terms, Colonel Petrosch. You decide yes or no, right now, or I must seek other means.”
He leant back in dire perplexity.
“You would disclose no plans, merely give proofs that the feeling of the army is solid; and what you said would be received under a pledge of confidence.”
“My sole purpose in coming to Belgrade is to secure her safety, Colonel; and you can therefore judge how far I am prepared to go.”
“The Princess is one of our grave embarrassments, Mr. Bergwyn. If anything I could say would enable you to influence her to leave Belgrade for a time, it would be different.”
“I have little influence, I fear.”
He threw up his hands and shook his head, and was silent.
During the pause Buller brought me a card. It was Gatrina’s. She had come after all.
“The Princess is here, Colonel, and with your leave I will go to her. I’ll send my man in ten minutes, and you can say just yes or no.”
“You will secure the pledge of secrecy?”
“Otherwise I will not ask you to say a word.”
It looked as if I were going to win, after all, and I felt in a confident mood as I hurried to Gatrina, giving Buller his instructions on the way.
An elderly woman was with her, at whom I glanced with little interest as the name, the Countess Vashti, was mentioned.
Gatrina met me with a stiff ceremonious bow; and her voice was cold and hard. But her eyes were full of trouble.
“We come by the Queen’s desire, Mr. Bergwyn, to bid you a formal welcome to Belgrade on her and His Majesty’s behalf,” she said, formally and distantly.
I expressed my gratification in equally formal terms; and we sat talking generalities, about the Capital, the ball of the previous night, and so on; just commonplace surface chatter, until Buller entered and gave me a slip of paper with the one word “Yes” written upon it. I had won; and after a little more make-weight twaddle for the benefit of the Countess Vashti, I got to the pith of things.
“There are some points arising out of our conversation at the Palace, last night, Princess, which have occurred to me, and I should be glad of an opportunity of discussing them with you privately.”
“Her Majesty’s object in desiring me to see you to-day, Mr. Bergwyn, was that I should speak with you privately if you desired it.” As she said this she glanced at the companion, who bowed acquiescence.
I rose at once and giving the old lady a bundle of papers I led Gatrina to another room.
“I told you last night that I would endeavour to give you proofs of what I said. As to the aim of the Russian party there is no need for proof; the Baroness herself last night admitted to me that she had instigated your abduction; that you were to have been taken to Maglai; and that when there your marriage with Duke Barinski was to be forced upon you.”
“She has said almost as much to me to-day—among other things,” was her reply, very coldly spoken. I could guess at the “other things,” but there was no time then to enter upon any defence.
“As to the power and feeling of the army I can prove my words. Colonel Petrosch is here and he will himself convince you. Will you come to him?”
“It seems incredible. How have you prevailed upon him to speak of this to me?”
“Does that matter, so long as he does speak?”
“I shall be at liberty to report what he may say?”
“No, certainly not. It is for your ears only. You asked for the proofs of what I said. I offer it to you; but it must, of course, be under a pledge of secrecy.”
She hesitated in anxious perplexity. “I will see him. I can at any rate act upon any knowledge so gained.”
“It is for that object I wish you to be convinced.”
We went then to the room where I had left the Colonel and Nikolitch, and both men rose and bowed to Gatrina as we entered, the Colonel stiffly, Nikolitch with unmistakable interest.
“Time is pressing and the interview need not take long,” I said. “What I wish is that you will convince the Princess Gatrina as you have convinced me, Colonel Petrosch, of the intentions of the officers for whom you speak so far as they affect her.”
Gatrina sat down and looked at him very closely.
The Colonel on his side was not without embarrassment as to how to begin. At length he said: “The Princess will, no doubt, be aware that the family of which she is a member has incurred the extreme hostility of the army. And what I said to you before, Mr. Bergwyn, I repeat now—if the Princess consults her safety and interests she will leave the country at once.”
Gatrina’s lip curled. “And if she does not consult either by adopting a course which she would consider cowardly and consent to be frightened away, what then?”
Antagonism and disbelief inspired the reply: the antagonism founded upon the Court view of the army’s attitude; the disbelief proceeding from her own private feelings. Nikolitch pulled his moustache and glanced at her with a mixture of admiration and concern; while the grim old Colonel shrugged his shoulders.
“I should apologise, Princess. I am not your Highness’s adviser, nor had I any right to assume such a position.”
“Is this all you have brought me to hear, Mr. Bergwyn?” she asked, with scarcely veiled disdain.
“No. I wish you to be convinced on two points—that the army is united and must be the deciding force in the present crisis; and that it is against your chance of succession to the Throne. Colonel Petrosch can speak with authority on both—if he will.”
“On both those points I can speak absolutely,” he replied; and very succinctly and clearly he made good his case as to the unanimity of the great majority of the regiments. That he succeeded in impressing her deeply was plain.
“And as to myself?” she asked.
“I much regret to have to say the army would not consent to serve under your Highness, or any member of your family,” he answered, decision in every syllable.
The gravity of the words appealed to us all.
Gatrina paused. “Any member of my family, Colonel Petrosch?” she repeated. “That would include His Majesty himself.”
“Madam, I have spoken under pressure; but my words stand and are not to be recalled,” he declared. “I speak not alone for myself, but for the entire committee of officers.”
“Your words are full of dangerous insinuations. What do you mean to imply?”
“I can add little to what I have said. The plans of the army have been much canvassed in the Court and elsewhere, and much misunderstood. But they have been decided upon; although, of course, that decision is secret.”
“Why do you tell me this?” she asked quickly.
“At Mr. Bergwyn’s desire.”
“And why?”
“Your pardon; that is a question to be put to him.”
I got up to end the interview; and after a moment Gatrina arose also, and with a bow to the two men went out with me. We returned to the room where we had been alone.
“I have kept my word. I trust you are convinced,” I said.
“I am bewildered. I don’t know whether to take it seriously and be gravely alarmed, or to scoff at the whole thing.”
“I think you must take it very seriously.”
“But it means that the officers are all but in open revolt against the Throne, Mr. Bergwyn.”
“You know the many reports to the same effect, all quite openly canvassed.”
“How have you influenced Colonel Petrosch to speak in this way to me?”
“It must be enough that he has so spoken. The question does not touch that of your decision as to your own action.”
“Do you counsel me to run away, then?” she cried, indignantly and almost contemptuously.
“I am afraid I have no influence with you.”
“No. That is true—now.”
“Why do you emphasise that word in particular—now?”
She disregarded the question, but after thinking earnestly for a few seconds, her brows knitted and her face intensely serious, she said: “The one serious thing is the statement that the regiments are now unanimous. Do you believe that?”
“I have not the shadow of a doubt.”
“Why are you so set upon frightening me?”
“You asked me that last night. I told you I have no such wish; I desire only that you shall know the truth.”
“I shall not leave my country, Mr. Bergwyn—even if all this be true. Nothing shall make me do that.”
“I feared that would be your decision.”
“You hoped I should be a coward then! Thank you.”
“That is not how I should describe my thoughts; but phrases are not of much consequence where things themselves are so grave.”
“If what this Colonel insinuates be true, the Queen herself would be in trouble and even in danger; would you have me desert her? Do you mean you think that would not be the act of a coward?”
“If your remaining to marry the Prince Albrevics would help her, I should say it would be cowardly to leave.”
She flushed with anger. “You do Her Majesty wrong and dishonour, Mr. Bergwyn, in saying that. She knows now that, like the rest of us, she has been mistaken in regard to the Prince. I have spoken freely with her and the marriage will not take place.”
“I am very glad to hear it,” I replied in a carefully restrained tone, hiding alike my surprise and unbounded delight at the news. But she had not exhausted her anger against me.
“Like so many men you seem to find delight in wronging one of the noblest women that ever lived—the staunchest friend that a girl could have.” It was an easy inference that the Queen had talked her over, but I admired Gatrina all the more for this chivalrous and warm defence.
“If it be possible I should like you to believe that I find no pleasure at all in wronging any woman. But I do not take the same view of the Queen as you do.”
“You have allowed yourself to be poisoned against her. I know by whom, and, perhaps, you are not to blame.” A reference to Elma this and an unmistakable sneer.
“I think I understand your reference, and there are several things I wish to make plainer to you——”
“I beg you not to trouble, Mr. Bergwyn. I wish to leave now.”
“You will let me explain surely.”
“There is no room for any explanations. I know enough, thank you. Let me go to the Countess Vashti.”
“You are very unjust and very hard. Last night after I had seen you I had a conversation with the——”
“I am quite aware of that,” she broke in, smiling angrily.
“For God’s sake don’t misunderstand me,” I cried, earnestly. “You must let me speak of it. It means——”
Impressed by my vehemence, I think, she was going to listen when the door of the room was thrust open with some violence, and Prince Albrevics entered, followed by Elma herself. The Prince was furiously angry; his face more crimson than usual even, and his manner truculent and threatening.
“So it’s true and you are here, Gatrina. What is the meaning of it? I have come to fetch you away.”
His hectoring tone and the insolent ignoring of me made me hot.
“The Princess Gatrina is here by Her Majesty’s desire, sir,” I said, as calmly as I could.
“I have nothing to say to you—yet,” he answered, first giving me a vicious look and then ostentatiously turning his back upon me.
Elma laughed, audibly enough for us all to hear.
“I have no need of your escort, Prince,” said Gatrina. “The Countess Vashti is with me.”
“You will come with me,” he retorted, curtly.
“On the contrary, I shall go with the Countess. Will you take me to her, Mr. Bergwyn?”
“Certainly.” I went toward the door. I observed that she had not taken the slightest notice of Elma.
“I have the right to escort you, Gatrina. We don’t need the interference of any foreigners.”
Gatrina was in the act of leaving but at this she stopped and turned to him.
“You are in error, Prince. You have no longer the right which you imply. Her Majesty will explain to you the reason. Your arm, if you please, Mr. Bergwyn.” And taking my arm she swept past him, her head high and looking every inch a Princess.
He changed colour at her words, and glared at me with a malignity that I expected to find utterance in fierce words. But he held them back and just did the cursing internally, I suppose.
“The Princess’s carriage,” I said to Buller as we crossed the hall to the room where the Countess was waiting.
Just as she came out and we stood in the hall, an unexpected incident occurred.
Chris appeared from somewhere and, recognising Gatrina, rushed to her with signs of extravagant delight.
She left my arm and bending over him patted him and made much of him in her old way; and the dog whimpered and frolicked about her, fawning on and licking her as if he had been a young pup. In the midst of it Elma and Prince Albrevics came out and watched them.
“What’s the meaning of that?” growled the Prince, with a scowl.
“One might almost think they were old friends,” answered Elma, in her sweetest tone.
Gatrina paid no heed to either remark, although she must have heard them both; and when she raised her head I saw in her brightly shining eyes an expression I had not seen since I came to Belgrade.
“Down, Chris, down,” I cried, for the dog was loath to let her go.
“He remembers me, Mr. Bergwyn; I should not like him to have forgotten,” said Gatrina, very gently, but meaningly. It was her way of answering Elma’s sneer.
I accompanied them to the carriage, Chris coming with us, and his great wistful eyes followed her all the time until she drove away.
As I returned into the house, the Prince passed me on the threshold. I stopped, meaning to have some plain-pointed talk with him.
But he prevented that. “I don’t quarrel with a man in his own house, sir, but we shall meet again,” he said, and hurried away without giving me a chance to reply.