“‘Proceed!’ demanded the prince. ‘What can be worse?’
“‘Your grandfather,’ replied the messenger, in evident haste to conclude a disagreeable task, ‘has taken to himself a young wife.’
“‘Ah!’ cried the prince, startled into a degrading abandonment of his customary elevation of demeanor. ‘The dotard, the imbecile! Married? To whom?’
“‘A daughter of the house of Nadis Shah, Rani Rue.’
“‘I know her!’ cried the prince savagely. ‘Implacable, ambitious, unscrupulous. What will she not attempt with that old driveller?’ Then, evidently impressed by something shadowed in the expression of his ill-omened Mercury, he exclaimed: ‘You have more to tell me?’
“The Hindoo bowed his head in perturbed affirmation.
“‘Quickly, then!’ demanded his august listener.
“‘The British forces have concentrated at the cantonment without the walls of Delhi; a detachment is even now on the way to your palace, which they propose to seize and garrison.’
“‘Ah!’ murmured the prince, ‘the freshet is turning to a deluge. Is there more?’
“‘Yes, O prince,’ returned the Hindoo; ‘the British intend to hold you as a hostage for the safety of the English resident, who is a prisoner at the palace in Delhi.’