: I left behind me the seeds of discord.
I proposed that the glum niece of Treves, whom you met at our historic
lunch, should be the future Empress. This nomination was seconded by
Mayence himself, and received with unconcealed joy by my brother of
Treves."

"Then for once the Court was unanimous? I think your choice an admirable
one."

"The Archbishop of Mayence does not agree with you, my dear."

"Then why did he second your nomination?"

"Because he is so much more clever than Treves, who a few minutes later
would have been the seconder."

"Why should his Lordship of Mayence think one thing and act another?"

"Why is he always doing it? No one can guess what Mayence really thinks,
if he is judged by what he says. Were Treves' niece to become Empress,
her uncle would speedily realize his power, and Mayence would lose his
leadership. Could Mayence to-day secretly promote you to the position of
Empress, he would gladly do so."

"But won't he at once look for some one else?"

"Certainly. That choice is now occupying his mind. His seconding of the
nomination was merely a ruse to gain time, but if he proposes any one
else he will find both Treves and myself against him. His only hope of
circumventing the ambition of Treves is that something may happen,
causing you to change your mind concerning Prince Roland."

"You forget, Guardian," protested the girl, "that his Lordship of
Mayence said he would not permit me to marry Prince Roland after the way
I had spoken and acted."

"He said that, my dear, under the influence of great resentment against
you, but Mayence never allows resentment or any other feeling to stand
in the way of his own interests. If you wrote him a contrite letter
regretting your defiance of him, and expressing your willingness to bow
to his wishes, I am very sure he would welcome the communication as a
happy solution of the quandary in which he finds himself."

"You wish me to do this, Guardian?" she asked wistfully.

"Not until you are satisfied that Prince Roland is innocent of the
charges you make against him."

"How can I receive such assurance?"

"Ah, now you come to the object of this apparently purposeless journey.
I have had much experience in the world you are so anxious to renounce,
and although I have seen the wicked prosper for a time, yet my faith has
never been shaken in an overruling Providence, and what happened last
night set me thinking so deeply that daylight stole in up