A Prince to Order

Table of Contents created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.
A PRINCE TO ORDER
A NOVEL
BY CHARLES STOKES WAYNE
JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK AND LONDON MCMV
Copyright, 1904 By Charles Stokes Wayne Copyright, 1905 By John Lane
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED BY WILLIAM G. HEWITT, NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A. PRINTED BY THE CAXTON PRESS, NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A.
TO MY WIFE WHO, AS THE INSPIRATION, EXCITED THE IMPULSE AND FURNISHED THE INCENTIVE FOR ITS PRODUCTION, THIS TALE IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

Grey’s awakening was as gradual as a clouded dawn. For a time dreams and realities intermingled. Then slowly a partial consciousness of his physical being obtruded: his fingers were clutching a silken coverlet; he turned on his side and the linen pillow-case was cool to his cheek; through half-open eyelids a sweep of pale blue became visible. Later he realised that he was in a curtained bed and that the blue was the colour of the draperies. He lay still for a long while—drowsy, inert, his sensibilities numb. Presently the ticking of a clock became audible, and then a rumble of street sounds. At the same moment a throbbing pain in his head asserted itself. With an effort he sat up, his hands pressed against his temples, his mind groping. Then in a flash the unfamiliarity of his surroundings aroused him suddenly, sharply, like a cold plunge, and his brain cleared a trifle. His memory went staggering back after the night before; but the mists descended again and the way grew dark, and he could remember no night without its morning.
He put his feet to the floor and stood up, but a dizziness overcame him, and he sank back upon the bed, weak and limp. His heart was beating tumultuously and his breath came in short, quick gasps. After a little these abnormalities passed and he raised himself on one elbow, resting his cheek on his hand. At the contact he started, amazed, bewildered. In some unaccountable manner he had grown a beard. His hand ran from his cheek to his chin. Close-cropped at the sides it was here an inch long and trimmed to a point, and his moustache was one of several months’ culture and training. He fancied he was dreaming and would awaken presently to find himself clean-shaven, as he had been for years.