Left to himself, Maximilian, who had taken no outward notice of the incident, flung himself at full length on the floor and groaned aloud.
Presently he raised his head sharply, and cast alarmed glances over the walls and ceiling of the room. Then he rose quickly and settled himself in a calmer attitude on a chair. Hardly had he done so when the sound of the door being unlocked again broke upon his ear.
He turned round, and saw the door open to admit the Minister of the Interior. He came in quietly, closed the door behind him, and stood in front of the King.
Herr Moritz had taken his measures with some skill, to avoid giving rise to suspicions on the part of the governor of the prison, or any of the subordinate agents whom it was necessary to employ.
Acting in pursuance of the scheme originally submitted by him to Princess Hermengarde and the Chancellor, he had meant to use the Socialist meeting as a trap in which to catch the King’s Socialist companion, and thus learn his master’s whereabouts. But as soon as he learnt through a trusted spy that Maximilian himself had entered the hall of meeting, he had determined on the bold step of arresting all present, rightly judging that the King would refrain from disclosing himself at the first, and that he would thus have an opportunity of at once carrying out the second and more delicate part of his task. Part of his proceedings has been already described. It only remained for the Minister, after allowing a suitable time to elapse, to return to the prison, and inform the governor that he had received secret information which made it desirable for him to privately examine the prisoner entered as Karl Josef. To avoid provoking curiosity he did not make any direct reference to the other inmate of No. 79, but contrived to meet him, and exchange a few hurried whispers with him, in one of the prison corridors. It was immediately after this that he presented himself before the King.
Maximilian’s first feeling on beholding the Minister was one of angry astonishment. But almost instantaneously he contrived to quell all outward signs of excitement. Assuming his most stern and distant manner, he demanded—
“Well, sir, why are you here?”
“I have come to ask if your Majesty has any commands for me,” was the Minister’s calm reply.
“How did you know I was here?” was his next question.
“I thought it was my duty to know it, Sire. Your disappearance caused some uneasiness in the palace, and knowing something of the dangers to which your Majesty’s person might be exposed among the revolutionists in Mannhausen, I ventured to take precautions for your safety.”