“Quiet guard, comrade?”
“Seen nothing till you came along.”
“Right! Good-night.” And the fellow went off.
Ompertz had speculated shrewdly enough upon the chance that his being no longer in Rollmar’s service would not be generally known. In this he had proved right, and to the sentry, who knew nothing of the change, the abrupt relief had seemed, after all, quite natural, especially as the Chancellor’s orders were notoriously apt to be sudden and inexplicable. The fellow had hardly known why he had been stationed there; beyond what was dictated by a certain native caution, he could not question the order which sent him off duty.
And now Ompertz had a clear stage for the carrying out of his plan. That he was expected by Minna and her mistress was soon evident. The window opened, and, after a short parley, Ompertz ran off to the spot where he had left his companion and returned with him, carrying also a bundle which contained a rope ladder upon which his energies had that afternoon been expended.
To carry the Princess off under the very nose of the keen old Chancellor was daring almost to madness. Yet what else could be done? The alternative was to see her consigned to the prison-castle of Krell till she should consent to marry Ferdinand the Usurper, or Ludwig the Detested, whichever fortune should leave in possession of the kingdom. Would Ruperta ever forgive him if he abandoned her now? Hardly: though his absence were to regain his kingdom. And if he failed in that? Then his state would be hopeless indeed. No. Debate it as he would, he always came back to the conclusion that, as things had stood between them, he could not, dared not, leave her. To run away as King Ludwig, even on so creditable an errand, would be to wake her rudely and for ever from the dream of Lieutenant von Bertheim.
The plan had yet to be proposed to the Princess. She might well draw back at the idea of a step so daring, so perilous, so absolutely mad from her point of view, ignorant as she was of her lover’s real position. But her letter of that morning had indicated that her temper was ripe for a desperate attempt at escape from Rollmar’s coercion, and on that idea he had acted.
A weighted end of twine was thrown in at the window, and by that the rope ladder was drawn up. When this had been made fast, Ludovic ascended.
“So you have not gone,” Ruperta said as he kissed her hand.
“Could I go,” he replied, “and leave you, dearest Princess, to bear the punishment I have brought upon you? Is it true that you are to be taken to Krell?”