ve missed your vocation; you plead well, indeed.
Unfortunately, I can not hear; my ears are of wax. No, no! I have
nourished these projects too long; they are a part of me. Laughed at,
you say? Have I not been laughed at from one end of the continent to
the other?" passionately. "It is my turn now, and woe to those who have
dared to laugh. I shall sweep all obstacles away; nothing shall stop me.
Mine the crown is, and mine it shall be. I am a woman, and I wished to
avoid bloodshed. But not even that shall stay me; not even love!" Her
bosom heaved, her hands were clenched, and her gray eyes flashed like
troubled waters in the sunlight.

"Madame, if you love him--"

"Well?" proudly.

"No, I am wrong. If you loved him you would prize above all else this
honor of which you intend to rob him."

"I brought you here not to discuss whether I am right or wrong. Look
about you."

Maurice was somewhat troubled to discover several troopers lounging
about just out of earshot. They were so arranged as to prevent egress
from the park. He looked thoughtfully at the wall. It was eight feet in
height.

Madame saw the look, and said, "Corporal!"

There was a noise on the other side of the wall, and presently a head
bobbed up.

"Madame?" inquired the head.

"Nothing. I wished to know if you were at your post." She turned
to Maurice, who was puzzled to know what all this was preamble to.
"Monsieur Carewe, I never forget details. I had an idea that when
I submitted my proposals to you, you might be tempted to break your
parole."

Maurice gnawed his lip. "Proceed, Madame."

"There are only two. If you do not promise here and now in no way to
interfere with my plans, these troopers will convey you to Brunnstadt,
where you will be kept in confinement until the succession to the
throne is decided one way or the other. The other proposal is, if you
promise--and I have faith in your word--the situation will continue the
same as at present. Choose, Monsieur. Which is it to be?"

The devil gleamed in his eyes. He remained silent.

"Well! Well!" impatiently.

"I accept the alternative," with bad grace. "If I made a dash--"

"You would be shot; those were my orders."

"And if I went to prison--"

"You would miss what you call the comic opera, but which to me is all
there is in life. You say that I have read your friend well. That is
true. Do you think that it is easy for me to lessen myself in my own
eyes? No woman lives who is