“Well, so far as I can see, he is likely to be gratified. And has his game been worth the candle?”
“I believe he thought so. At any rate, the national sentiment is much more strongly developed than when we were in Emathia. Then the reformers talked of uniting with Thracia or Mœsia or Morea, according to their tastes, but now they are all inclining to the thought of an Emathian nation. Most of them would like a republic, of course, but they know the Powers would never hear of that, and Maurice’s refusal to bind himself body and soul to the Greeks pleased them. So before Mr Teffany-Wise died, he had practically got things settled.”
“Oh, he is dead, then?”
“Yes; he insisted on interviewing the Committees and leaders of bands for himself, and inspecting their work, and they passed him on from one to another all through the disturbed districts. It was winter, and he was chased by the Roumis, and the hardships were too much for him. Of course you think I’m a brute to talk like this, but I can’t forgive that man. He has spoilt Maurice’s life.”
“If your brother is what I remember him, it would be difficult for any one to do that,” said Wylie.
“No one could, except through Eirene. But you must expect to see Maurice a good deal changed. It isn’t either comfortable or dignified for a man to have to go through life as a drag on his wife’s wheel.”
“Then I gather that your sister-in-law has not changed?”
“No, Eirene is Eirene still—only more so. She would not have been quite so bad but for the Uncle. He left his property in trust, to be used for restoring the family to the Imperial throne. That was natural enough, but he gave Eirene power to use the interest as she thought best, though she can’t touch the capital without Maurice’s consent.”
“Injudicious,” said Wylie.
“Injudicious? It was mad! And Eirene is so unfair. She has no sense of what can be done and what can’t. Little Constantine—their boy—was born just after the news of the will came, and she was very ill. Their two first babies died—really and truly I believe it was because she always worried and excited herself so much—and she knew how anxious Maurice was. Well, she sent for him and made him promise that he would open communications with the Slav leaders, instead of waiting for them to approach him. She got better, and little Con is all right, and of course Maurice had to keep his promise. So he wrote to say that if he received a definite invitation from them, he would place himself at their head, and negotiations have been going on ever since. Then Professor Panagiotis threw himself into the fray, and now there is really some prospect of Maurice’s being accepted as candidate both by the Greek and Slav parties.”