“You seem to have treachery on the brain,” said Maurice. “There is no question of violence of any kind. I asked you to come here that I might make a certain proposal to you.”
“Which you intend to compel me to accept? Continue, pray.”
“You are on your way to Emathia to throw in your lot with the insurgents; so are we. I imagine that, like myself, you are moved by the wretched condition of the country. If it had been properly governed, and the people contented, your claim, like mine, would have remained in abeyance. Therefore neither of us is fighting for his own hand, but in the hope of delivering Emathia. Do you agree?”
“Sir,” said Prince Romanos, “your sentiments are most admirable, and I—admire them.”
“Then,” said Maurice, rather impatiently, “what I propose is that for the present you and I should lay aside our opposing claims, and fight shoulder to shoulder. Since we are both in reality working for the good of Emathia, don’t let the mere look of things divide us. You know as well as I do that nothing would delight Scythia and Pannonia more than to see the friends of freedom fighting among themselves, so that they might point out how impossible it was to entrust them with the government. But if by sinking our differences we can keep our followers from quarrelling, we shall have gone a long way towards proving the fitness of the Emathians for liberty.”
“And for the rule of Prince Maurice the First? Really, Mr Teffany, I can hardly take it as a compliment that you appear to expect me to welcome this proposal.”
“You have not heard me to the end. I was going to suggest that when the Roumis are driven out, and peace achieved, we should submit our claims to the decision of the Emathian people, and abide by the result.”
Armitage and Wylie were scarcely less astonished this time than Prince Romanos, who was obviously thunder-struck. “I have offered to submit my claim to the arbitration of the Œcumenical Patriarch,” he said at last.
“And I have refused,” said Maurice shortly. “The only arbitration I will accept is that of a referendum or a plébiscite—whatever you like to call it—an appeal to the people most concerned.”
“And if I refuse?”