ave
bewitched me,' she said; and then with a laugh, 'I break my staff!' she
added; 'and I must pay you my best compliment. You made a difficult
speech. You are as adroit, dear Prince, as I am--charming.' And as she
said the word with a great curtsey, she justified it.

'You hardly keep the bargain, madam, when you make yourself so
beautiful,' said the Prince, bowing.

'It was my last arrow,' she returned. 'I am disarmed. Blank cartridge,
_O mon Prince_! And now I tell you, if you choose to leave this prison,
you can, and I am ruined. Choose!'

'Madame von Rosen,' replied Otto, 'I choose, and I will go. My duty
points me, duty still neglected by this Featherhead. But do not fear to
be a loser. I propose instead that you should take me with you, a bear
in chains, to Baron Gondremark. I am become perfectly unscrupulous: to
save my wife I will do all, all he can ask or fancy. He shall be filled;
were he huge as leviathan and greedy as the grave, I will content him.
And you, the fairy of our pantomime, shall have the credit.'

'Done!' she cried. 'Admirable! Prince Charming no longer--Prince
Sorcerer, Prince Solon! Let us go this moment. Stay,' she cried,
pausing. 'I beg dear Prince, to give you back these deeds. 'Twas you
who liked the farm--I have not seen it; and it was you who wished to
benefit the peasants. And, besides,' she added, with a comical change of
tone, 'I should prefer the ready money.'

Both laughed. 'Here I am, once more a farmer,' said Otto, accepting the
papers, 'but overwhelmed in debt.'

The Countess touched a bell, and the Governor appeared.

'Governor,' she said, 'I am going to elope with his Highness. The result
of our talk has been a thorough understanding, and the _coup d'etat_ is
over. Here is the order.'

Colonel Gordon adjusted silver spectacles upon his nose. 'Yes,' he said,
'the Princess: very right. But the warrant, madam, was countersigned.'

'By Heinrich!' said von Rosen. 'Well, and here am I to represent him.'

'Well, your Highness,' resumed the soldier of fortune, 'I must
congratulate you upon my loss. You have been cut out by beauty, and I am
left lamenting. The Doctor still remains to me: _probus_, _doctus_,
_lepidus_, _jucundus_: a man of books.'

'Ay, there is nothing about poor Gotthold,' said the Prince.

'The Governor's consolation? Would you leave him bare?' asked von Rosen.

'And, your Highness,' resumed Gordon, 'may I trust that in the co