“Dornlitz.
“Keep him under surveillance. We leave to-night; reach Dornlitz by ten A. M.
“Armand.”
“Yes,” said the Princess, “and add that he is to call the Royal Council for half after ten at the Summer Palace.—I’m going to give Lotzen a chance to explain a few things.”
XXIII
THE CANOPY OF SWORDS
When the train had crossed the Lorg and the towers of Dornlitz shone far off to the front, the following morning, the Princess sent for the Archduke.
“Armand,” said she, “I have been thinking—much of the night, indeed—and I am persuaded that this day will see the end of our quest; don’t smile; wait, wait until the day has passed. Lotzen knows where the Book is—he hasn’t it—he never has had it—he would not have needed a counterfeit if he had; besides, do you fancy he would have left it behind when he went to Lotzenia—or that he would have come back here if he had it with him? If he knows now where the Book is, he has known all along—then why hasn’t he got it? Because it’s been impracticable, no adequate opportunity. Where is the opportunity now that he hasn’t had before?—the Summer Palace—with the Household gone, he can spend a day in it without explanation or interruption—and the King’s suite is vacant. There Adolph hid the Laws—and Lotzen knows where—and they are what he has gone for; that is why he left his Castle night before last, within an hour after me; he realized the false book would send us back to Dornlitz and that he must go instantly if he would be there first. Oh, it’s all plain now—to me at least.”
The Archduke went over and stood beside her, stroking her fair hair softly with his finger tips.
“Sweetheart,” said he, “there is much force in what you say, and you will also remember that Elise d’Essoldé saw Lotzen come from the library the day you charged him with killing Adolph and stealing the Book. Yet the answer to it all is, that the entire Palace has been searched and vainly—and the King’s suite torn almost into bits. Hence, under the facts, your theory seems unavailing.”
She looked up at him with a half disappointed smile, but with an insistent shake of the head.
“You go too far with your facts, dear,” she said; “I, too, thought that every inch of the King’s suite had been searched, but I’ve changed my mind; it hasn’t been—if it had, we would have found the Laws.”—She gave a cry and sprang up. “The box, Armand! the box! the Book’s in it.”