"No; I do not now intend that you shall marry the girl. Knowing her to be an impostor, I know that the most degenerate Von Markstein is too good to mate with her," said the old man, the lash of his tongue cutting in two ways at once. "But Maximilian has lost his head, and there's only one hope left, it seems, that he will find it in time to save the country a great disaster. It must be proved to him that the woman he honours is worthless; that while she angles to catch a big fish, she does not disdain to play with a small one."
"Meaning, we'll show the Emperor that Miss de Courcy has been flirting with me," finished Otto. "With all my heart, dear brother, if that were possible—for I owe her a grudge. But I confess I did not tell you all there was to tell, this morning, when I rode over from Schloss 262 Lynarberg. I spared myself the embarrassment of mentioning that, after the garden scene which I described to you, Miss de Courcy and I had a little private scene of our own. I was stupid enough to choose the wrong moment for declaring my sentiments and expressing my sympathy. Not only did the young lady refuse to forgive me, at the time, but I know very well that she never will forgive me, in future. She will have nothing to do with me after this; she has forbidden me to speak to her again. Therefore, with the best intentions in the world, I am——"
"You are a fool!" exclaimed the Chancellor.
"Not quite, I trust. Only wait till I have finished, and even my brother may admit that, though there's no hope for me in an affair of the heart with Miss de Courcy, there is a little still left for me as the aide-de camp of a diplomatist. Who do you think has just arrived in Salzbrück?"
"The devil, I should say, by the way things are going," returned the Chancellor.
"I've heard him called so more than once. That's why I thought he 263 might be useful now. And as it happens, he's in a mood for mischief. I met him on my way to the station, in his dog-cart, in which he had driven to town from Bünden."
"From Bünden! Then it is the Prince——"
"Of Darkness; you've just named him."
The Chancellor heard neither the flippant interruption nor the still more flippant laugh accompanying it. His hard features brightened with a grim joy. "Providence fights for us!" he murmured.
"With the devil for a weapon, you would put it, brother? Or should we rather be polite, and say that the Prince is like the ram caught by its horns in the bushes, ready for sacrifice?"