"You don't think she knows the Decree," he exclaimed.

"I think she never heard of the Laws of the Dalbergs," I answered. "I
mean that it was my being here that brought her."

Again the King smiled.

"What you mean is that she would not be here but for the fact that by
Henry's Decree she would be your lawful wife and I powerless to
interfere."

I made no answer. I was rather anxious for him to pursue the premise
to its conclusion.

"You see where that deduction leads," he went on: "only Dehra and
Lotzen know the Laws of our House."

"I ask Your Majesty to observe that I have made no deduction," I said.

He stopped short and looked at me, a moment.

"Quite right," he said; "and it's proper you should not to me. But, I
suppose you will concede it was not the Princess."

"Certainly," I agreed.

"Ergo--it must have been----"

"I stop at the Princess," said I.

He sat silent, frowning very slightly.

"If I were quite sure that Lotzen were the instigator of this plot, I
would remove him utterly from the line of succession and banish him
from the Kingdom."

I thought it a proper time for me to be very quiet.

"In the meantime, however, I shall send that infernal woman packing
over the border by the quickest route," he said vehemently.

"I trust not, Sire," I said. "As Governor of Dornlitz, I gave orders,
this morning, that she be not permitted to leave the Capital."

"But, she's an American subject!" he exclaimed. "She can't be held
prisoner."

"If she's my wife, she's a subject of Your Majesty."

"True! But why do you want to keep her here?"

"To give time to investigate her doings since I became an Archduke," I
said. "I may not marry Dehra in the face of that certificate and old
Henry's Decree; and, since the Alderman is dead, only through Madeline
Spencer herself can the falsity of her claim be shown. Every moment
here she must act her part and be under our constant surveillance.
Sometime, she is sure to make a slip or forget her lines. But, let her
be at large and, with plenty of funds at her command, she will be a
will-o-the-wisp, to be followed over the world for years--and her slips
will be few and very far between, and with no one there to note them."

"Very good," said Frederick; "keep her or send her, as you see
fit--only, don't embroil me with America, if you can avoid it."

"There is no danger," I assured him. "Courtney says he will not
interfere, so long as she claims to be m