fate and the girl's. And so Renwick crouched beside her and silently
prayed in English, a language he thought more fitted to the desperate
nature of his desires, that the three figures would pass on to another
part of the garden, that they, the luckless lovers, might flee to the
abandoned tennis court in innocence and peace.

But Renwick's prayers were not to be answered. Had he known at the
moment how deeply the two of them were to be enmeshed in the skein of
Europe's destiny he would have risen and faced the anger of his host,
or, risking detection, incontinently fled. But Marishka's hand clasped
his own, and lucklessly, he waited.

The three men reached the gate of the arbor, the smaller one entering
first, the giant with the gray beard, at a gesture from their host,
following, and they all sat in chairs around the small iron table.
Renwick was paralyzed with fear and Marishka's chill fingers seemed
frozen to his. There had been rumors in the chancellories of Europe of
this visit to Konopisht to see the most wonderful rose garden in Bohemia
in mid-June, but Renwick knew, as did every other diplomat in Vienna,
that the visit to the roses of Konopisht was a mere subterfuge. If there
had been any doubt in the Englishman's mind as to the real nature of the
visit, the grave expressions upon the faces of the men in the arbor
would speedily have set him right. The Archduke opened a cigarette case
and offered it to his companions who helped themselves with some
deliberation.

"A wonderful rose garden, truly, my friend," said the man in the jaeger
hat with a smile which broke the grave lines of his face into pleasant
wrinkles. "I will give your gardener twice what you offer him to come to
me."

The Archduke showed his white teeth in a smile. "_Majestaet_ has but to
request----"

"A jest, my friend. It would be unmannerly. It is Her Highness that I
would also rob, for roses, after all, are more a woman's pleasure than a
man's."

"The Duchess spends many hours here----"

"The _Arch_ Duchess," corrected the other vehemently.

The Archduke shrugged. "She will always hold that rank in my heart," he
said quietly.

"And with me and my House," said the other quickly.

"It is a pity that my own family should not be of the same mind."

"It matters nothing," said the other. "Nothing. You shall see."

The Archduke examined the ash of his cigarette, but said nothing.

"You must realize, my great and good friend," continu