"'Have I your permission, Sir, to hear what this man has to say?' I inquired, turning to the King. 'I go or stay, as you may command, and am ready, if need be, as I have said, to prove my loyalty with my life.'
"There is no keener judge of character in all England than the King, and the look which, for a moment, he bent upon me was so searching, so penetrating, so compelling, that I admit I found it hard to face.
"'You keep queer company!' he said with stern bluffness; and something there was, in the way he looked and spoke, which, even in that most eventful moment of my life, recalled past scenes of English history to my memory, and reminded me strangely of more than one of his great ancestors.
"'My company,' I replied gravely, 'is not of my choosing. What has happened to me might have happened to your Majesty's most loyal subject—might conceivably have happened, I venture humbly to suggest, to one who is subject to none in this kingdom. I am here, not by my own consent, but by compulsion. An hour ago I was suddenly taken by surprise, and from behind, by superior numbers, and before I could resist or summon assistance, was forcibly drugged, abducted, and carried senseless to this place. Believe me, Sir, that I am as little deserving of reproach, on the score of the company I keep, as I am unworthy to stand in the august presence in which I now find myself.'
"So saying, I dropped again upon one knee, and bent my head. When I looked up, I saw that the knitting of the brows over the eyes, which had been so sternly bent upon me, was relaxed. By a gesture he bade me to rise, and then, without speaking, nodded to the door, to indicate that I had his permission to withdraw. Walking backwards, I passed out, to find the Dumpling, who had preceded me, on the other side.
"After closing the door, locking it, and pocketing the key, he took my arm in a friendly way, and led me into another room, lit by a smoky lamp.
"'My dear Rissler,' he began, 'I don't deny that you have disappointed me, but, after all, it is only what I might have expected, and my regard for you is so great that——'
"His hand was feeling, as he spoke, for the dagger which had been in the inside pocket of his cloak. Missing it, he turned suddenly upon me, his eyes blazing with maniacal fury and fire; but before he could lift hand, I struck him squarely, with all my strength, between the eyes, and, as he reeled back, I snatched at the handle of the dagger, and stabbed him to the heart at one stroke."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
"GOD SAVE THE KING!"