riage, and my own inclinations seconded him
with such terrible insistence that I feared for my resolution. I do not
believe that I should have done the deed I dreamt of; but I might have
come to flight, and my flight would have ruined the cause. And--yes, I
am no saint (ask my little sister-in-law), and worse still might have
happened.

It is perhaps as strange a thing as has ever been in the history of a
country that the King's brother and the King's personator, in a time of
profound outward peace, near a placid, undisturbed country town, under
semblance of amity, should wage a desperate war for the person and life
of the King. Yet such was the struggle that began now between Zenda and
Tarlenheim. When I look back on the time, I seem to myself to have been
half mad. Sapt has told me that I suffered no interference and listened
to no remonstrances; and if ever a King of Ruritania ruled like a
despot, I was, in those days, the man. Look where I would, I saw nothing
that made life sweet to me, and I took my life in my hand and carried it
carelessly as a man dangles an old glove. At first they strove to guard
me, to keep me safe, to persuade me not to expose myself; but when they
saw how I was set, there grew up among them--whether they knew the truth
or not--a feeling that Fate ruled the issue, and that I must be left to
play my game with Michael my own way.

Late next night I rose from table, where Flavia had sat by me, and
conducted her to the door of her apartments. There I kissed her hand,
and bade her sleep sound and wake to happy days. Then I changed my
clothes and went out. Sapt and Fritz were waiting for me with six men
and the horses. Over his saddle Sapt carried a long coil of rope, and
both were heavily armed. I had with me a short stout cudgel and a long
knife. Making a circuit, we avoided the town, and in an hour found
ourselves slowly mounting the hill that led to the Castle of Zenda. The
night was dark and very stormy; gusts of wind and spits of rain caught
us as we breasted the incline, and the great trees moaned and sighed.
When we came to a thick clump, about a quarter of a mile from the
Castle, we bade our six friends hide there with the horses. Sapt had a
whistle, and they could rejoin us in a few moments if danger came: but,
up to now, we had met no one. I hoped that Michael was still off his
guard, believing me to be safe in bed. However that might be, we gained
the top of the hill without accident,