American Push

Copyright. 1891. "What do you mean?" cried Alonzo, jumping up from his chair as though something had stung him. "Ah," said Eric, with a voice cool and incisive, "I thought you had forever broken with her. How, then, can it wake your wrath if she should become the queen of Sal tra via?" "It wouldn't - it wouldn't," muttered Alonzo, pale and visibly distressed. "But if anything happens, Lonz, I pledge you my word that will happen! The king has done far more audacious things already than marry an American girl. As for a morganatic marriage - " "Curse a morganatic marriage!" cried Alonzo. "If he tried that, and she consented, I'd pnt a bullet through his brain, though they hung me ten minutes af terward. " "They don't hang here; they guillotine," said Eric, calmly. "It's much neater, in a way. But you needn't covet any such poetic fate. Clarimond loathes morganatic unions, has more than once told me. Lonz, Lonz! you know him too weU by this tine for such kind of talk! Here you are, rich, through his generosity, and you talk of him as if he were some common cad." "I'll resign my position!" quavered Alonzo, with both hands clenched at hia side. 'Til go to starvation, if you please - " "Don't. Go to the ball first." 'Til send him my resignation this very day!" "Wait until the ball is over." "Curse the ball!" "You're cursing everything, it strikes me, in the most promiscuous manner." "Porgive me, Eric, butl can't help it." "You can't help it, dear boy," said Eric, "because your heart is almost breaking in your breast!" He got up from his chair, and went straight to his f riend, putting his arms about his neck and kissing him on the forehead. It was a very sweet and simple act, and it was also one thatbrimmed with a beautiful, spontaneous fraternity. Alonzo threw back his head, stared forlornly at his companion, and then flung his head on Eric's broad, ririle shoulder. A gfeat, passionate turmoil of tears followed - the tears that men shed, and so tellingly seldom, and that are wrung, when shed at all, from deepcaverned wells of their spirits. Eric held him in his arms, not speaking a word, only throbbing with the most humane sympathy. But meanwhile his brain worked, and he thought, with the bitterness and irony that certain stern freaks of life will too often wrench from us, whether we are optimists, pessimists, or only a part of that huger throng which neither think nor feel too keenly. "And I brought him here for this! It's too devilishly bad! In a way he was happy enough till he'd seen her again, and now it's all a tumult with him, a madness, a torture. But heil stay for the ball. He'll Btay, just to see her again. And then? God knows with what reckless force he'll fly straight in the face of his present prosperity." CHAPTER XII. Eric was right. On the evening oí the ball he and Alonzo sought the palace togetber. They entered the great room a little before ten o'cloek. Here the entire assembled court were waiting, and presen tly to a golden clash of music f rom the orchestra on an upper balcony muffled in choice living flowers, the king entered with the princess of Brindisi on his arm. It was a sight of extreme splendor. The enormous room, tapestried in gold and white, and hung with mirrors of huge size that reduplicated the chandeliers in endless glittering vistas, had been profusely adorned with roses, lilies and orchids from the royal hot-houses. The Saltravian nobles all wore their uniforms, and between the many beautiful ladies who were their wives a sumptuous kind of rivalry was to-night manifest, each one wishing, as it would seem, to cc-lipse the other in the glory of her jewels. But there were two ladies present who outshone them all, and these were the princess herself and her cherished ward, Bianca d'Este. The mother of Clarimond was literally mailed in gems. lier stomacher and corselet of mingled rabies and diamonds blazed, as the light caught them, with vivid and luxurious fires. Her hrtir was oversprinkled with briüiants and her neck and arms wore aflame with them. Possessing so much natural presence and carriajre, she looked more than mercly regal. Hor worst foes (and there were two or three of these who now gazed at her with the most amiable deineanors) must have granted that she ■ alt';rrether magnificent. With Bianca d'Este it was quite an opposite raafjnificont, but in a w lenhood ■ of p.'?arls five bn. the t hless bouquet, it w;:s owned by her inother, wasfamous throughout Europe worth a handsome fortune in itself. The pv' -il liianca's mo, ter to permit the girl to f it on this special occasion, it had been sert ily tinder the guardianship of 1', men, who now wo i -halls of the palace and wou1 the glorious bauble from the hr.iuls of its wearer the i. that sin i fitorilv atfter tJie 'intráneo of mond and his mother the royal quadrille was danced, and to some conservative watchers, when they beheld the lead forth Katlileen as his partner, the sight was one of absolute horror. Everybody else in the quadrille was of the blood royal except this upstart young American. Beautiful? Yes, amazingly so. lier beauty, in its perfect plainness of apparel, dimmed the fire of all those necklaces, bracelets and tiaras. With such eyes, with such a heavenly look about the brows, with such a slope of the arm and shoulder, and with that imperial kind of daintiness in her motion, she made every other woman look artificial, got up for the occasion, endimanchee. But what (que diable) had that to do with the king's behavior? Whether she were hagor Iiouri, why should he make her an excuse for smashing etiquette and then dancing on its debris? The thing was too idiotie. Did he mean to marry her? Was this to be his latest daring deed of unconventionalism? "Look at him now," whispered a lady of highest rank to a gentleman equally loíty, after a pause had followed the first general dance. "He has those two Americans at his side, Eric Thaxter ar d M. Lispenard. What a revolution he has wrouglit in his mother! The prinsess is talking to them both and smiling her blandcEt." "Oh! the poor oíd princess!" f,"gled the gentleman. "Was there ere such an overthrow? They say that he gave her her choice the other nijjht after he had sent us all adrift like a pack of school children and treated poor Philibert sa awfully. Either she had to pull down her flag and fold it discreetly away, just as she's doing now, or leave the I country inside of twenty-four hours." "But is it true," asked the lady, "that this American girl was once betrothed to M. Lispenard?" "You know what happened there on the palace grounds," was the reply. "He saw her and ran off in an agony of embarrassment, followed by his friend." "Perliaps they ha.d boen married and then divorced," said the lady. "I have it on the best of authority that people in America marry there in one province (let us say Venezuela) this year and are divorced with perfect ease the next year in some other province (let us say California)." "Really? I'm not surprised. Americans aro sueh curious creatures. But she's wondorfuüy handsoxns, that girl. Don't you think so?" "Oh! of cöurse," granted the lady, ( saying no more, and saying even this mnch z.z ihcurh it were foreed frora her. "BYat I don't like the affected simplicity with which she has gowned herself. Do you?" "I hadn't thought a bit about her attire," said the gentleman. "Where is she now? Do you know?" "Talking to a score or so of our best men," returned the lady, a little harsh ly, "over j-onder near the door that leads to the picture galleries. Take me in that direction, will you? I want to have a better look at her. I may be wrong, but it struck me there was a crookedness in one of her eyebrows - " Meanwhile, as the princess of Brindisi, subdued into humility that she had never before dreamed of as possible to her proud spirit, was saying suave if rather void things to Alonzo, the king slipped his arm within that of Eric Thaxter and murmured to him: "Come with me, my friend, into the conservatory. I have something I must say to you at once." Clarimond and his companion were presently in the sweet-smelling dusk of a spacious glass pavilion, where you heard the sounds of falling water and caught its flashes, now and then, through coverts of shadowing leaves and blooms. They found the place quite vacant; as yet, no flushed and fatigued daneers had sought it. Their feet struck with Httle hollow clangs on the marble pavements of the odorous avenues, and thus accentuated, as it were, the exceeding stillness. It was a stillness that Eric waited for his master to break, and at length he did so, in these words: "I suppose that Lispenard told you just what passed between him and myself." "Yes, monsieur, he told me." "Woll," aid the king, musingly, "then you, Erie, who knew me so well, must have seen that I - betrayed rayself." "Betrayed yourself, monsieur. FIow?" "Oh that I showed him I love the woman he loves. Did he not teil you that? No, do not reply. I will not permit you to teil me, even if so inelined. It would be unfair, almost dishonorable, for me to insist on any such disclosure." "An tnjustice fr monsieur, would be as impossible asdarknessfrom the sim." Th' ienly paused. was touohed with a vague yet revealing lig-ht and Erie perceived on it a pallor, a seriousuess. which he hi noted but which n;w seemed i:. "If I wanted a counsclorl" he broke forth, and then he húd a hand on Eric's shoulder. "Kut in this case I Qug-L ant one. I should be sufficient unto myself. Only, my friend, you would be the wisêst and best of counselors; that is all I mean," and he withdrew his hand, giving a long aud deep sigh. "Froiu what I know of you, monsieur," Brie, "you have always been sufficient unto yourself. " "Not always, not always - but you are very kind." "i am simply sincere, monsietir. You were born totea great ruler of mcn. I have fclt it for months past. The more that I see of you, the more strongly you appeal to me as a power for good. The world would Jiave had no need for republics if all kings had buen as perfect as yourself." "Thanks, my Eric - thanks." To the surprise of his hearer these words were very brokenly uttered. Clarimond remained inmovable, so that the revealing light still clothed his face. And now Eric saw that his vivid eyes were shining as though with halfrepressed tears. Only a slight silence elapsed before he spoke again: "Then if I am indeed worthy to be a great ruler, as you say, I should know, Eric, how to rule myself." "Pardon me, monsieur, but I do not understand." The king's glance turned from right to left as though in the dimness he suspected either some newcomer or some ambushed listener. With great abruptness he soon caught Eric's hands in either of his own and held them strainingly while his moist-beaming eyes plunged their look into the obscured face of his watcher. "Eric, I have never loved living woman until now, and I could have her for my wife if I choose!" "For your - queen," faltered Eric, scarcely knowing vvhy he spoke the words. "Queen! queen!" Clarimond fiung back, impatiently. "Dame! you are like everybody else. IIow ctherwice could I have her for my wife, man? Have I not told you that those mornnatic marriages are loathsome to me? But there it is! Instantly that 'royalty' idea occurs to you! Well, you are not to blame. lt occurs to everybody, no doubt, the moment my marriae Í3 thought of. It oceurrcd to her. Sho accepted me. Are you smiling because she accepted me? Are you saying to yourself that she merely did what thousands of vromen would in like circumstances doï But you are if you reason so, for she was sublimely frank. She maue it clear to me that she stil! loved Lispenard, and U she broug-ht me a virgin body she could not bring me a rirg-in heartl" "Yes," he went on, "I have thought of asking you to dweil there with me - as my wife." At once she turned and met his gaze with great directness. "You - have had this thought, monsieur?" "It is my wish - my request - my entreaty." "Your wife?" she repeated; and he saw that she was deeply perturbed. "My queen," he continucd. "I want you toshare my throne and crown with me, such as they are. I have never asked any woman to do this until now. I have never asked any woman, for the simplest of reasons. Xecd I teil you that reason?" He reached his hand forward and took her hand, it to his lips. It had grown cold - piteously cold, and the kisses that he gave it were somehow bestowed with the eompassionate tenderness which implied that he sought to rcawaken its natura] warmtli. "Yoiy queen - your queen," she said, and withdrew her hand, notrudely, and j-et with firmness. The coloréame back to her cheeks. As he watched lier face it seemed like a tea-rose in some delightful process of revivifleation, faint yet distinct. "That is what I said," he answered, "and that is what I mean." He w atehed her struggle with her agitation. It seemed to him cruel that he should do this, and yet it gave him a eurious pleasure just as if she were some oddly beautiful bird that revealed some touch of iridescent splendor beneath its wings every time they were fluttered. But at length Kathleen, so to speak, fluttered her wings once more. "Monsieiir," she said, with a kind of pathetic tranquillity, "there is - yourmother." "My mother will be no obstacle. I can and will prevent her from being onc." She hesitated a moment. "Then there are - there are - (how shall I put it) your traditions." "I've trampled on a good many of them, as it is. Come now, mademoiselle," he pursued, with a gruffness that would have frightened herif it had not ended in a smile. "You're going to throw me over - you're going to reject me - to (what is the right phrase?) send me about rny business!" "No, no!" she exelaimed. Immediatoly then she rose and stretched out her right hand. "'I will be your wife, " she said, "and I thank you for the great honor you do me." He also rose at this and wrapped her with his embrace. But something in her lips, her eyes, her look (he could not for his life have told just what) made him put her away at arm's length, intently scan her features and then recoil several steps, touching her no longer. "Your heart isn't in it!" he exciaimed. "You're giving yourself to me only because of your mother!" Her eyes dilated frightenedly. "Oh, no; don't think that!" she cried. "But I do think it- I must! Why not, when I rcad it, when I see it? Your heart is elsewhere, and you' re willinpr to let me possess if I will - the void that marks where it once 1 ieat. Am I not right? Answer me, Kathleen; am I not ri; burst toto i of tears. "Yes! yes! I clare not lie to you. If you were not fine I - I iniyht lie, but you t (rom me! You undying memory; you you i' '■ !1H. aI1(1 I - I ■ rong. But 1 ing. Oh, hear i Q not absurd to phra that. Only it it to be truthfiil. You, who are so sincere yourself, will tu) will pardon. If I had oever known him it would have boen so different! I could havo loved you then with all my soul! I can imagine some good woman loving you that way. ■ Perhaps it Will come to ine in time. You spoke of my mother. No, it is not shc - not wholly she. Of course she wants such amarrioge; what i jaotbe.r wunl! a ■■ tana to be your wife; only tiiere is that othor love which will not diei Am I not wiser to let you know this? You can't blame me. I sco now in your eyes that you do not blame me. Fve never asked you if he has spoken of me; I've never wantod to know. It's quite over between us. There, that is aü. I go to you without a guilty conscience. You know me just as I am. I've tried to crash it but it would not be erushcd. Suppose I had never said a word about it and let you take me with a f alsehood in my soul. Many a woman would have done that. Almost every other woman in the world would have done it. But I'm not vaunting my virtues. I'm simply making a clean breast of things - don't you see? You do see; you must! There - I daré say I'll be a worthy wife to you, monsieur, and I'mcertain that I'll be a very faithful and devoted one. As for a quecn (and she laughed wildly through her tears), I may fail at that. It is such an undreamed-of part for me to play! Iiut I'll try. I'll try hard, strengthened by your help!" The tears were glistening on her cheeks as she put forth both hands to him. He took them, kissing them both, and then, still holding them, he said: "Kathleen, you are a very noble and brave girl. I thank you sincerely for what you have told me. One easily multiplies words. You will understand just how grateful I feel. The evening of the ball is so near that a press of affairs may keep me from seeing you till then. But (as I said to you yesterday, if I mistake not), my carriage will be here at the hour named to conduct your mother and yourself to the palace. Au revoir. Let everything rest undetermined, please, until we meet again." She feit his lips touch her hand, and then in the twinkling of an eye, before she could even be swe that he meant to leave her, he had vanished from the room. She sank into a chair. Her heart was throbbing and her head swam a little as she leaned it backward. In a few more seconds her mother shot into her presence by another door. "Kathleen!" "Well, maramaJ" "She said this, monsieur?" "In substance, yes, Eric, if not in actual phrase. And I, knowing how this man and woman love one another - how the cruel worldliness of a single, hard-grained being has kept them apart - I, whom you have called great, pause, positively pause, before the fulflllment of my duty!" "Your duty, monsieur?" The king's eyes darted fire for a second, there in the dusk where he and Eric stood. "I can unite them if I choose, almost by lifting my hand. If I do not choose, I can wed Kathleen. Which course is my duty? She will marry me, half from ambition; half because of her mother - that vicious, mannish, insatiable mother! Which course, I say, is my duty? People talk of Quixotism! Bahl As if I did not know! There was never a meaner word created than that 'Quixotism!' It has been tbc eloak for eountless acts of cowardkc and Cervantes, nero he pjive to-day, et that his genius ever aide'd iing." Eric cb}óoped 'ais hc-..l, and feit his eyes fill with tears. He knew just what great throbs of a noble natura underla-y this splendid bluster, 11; comparable vehemente, "Monsieur," he replied, when able to school his voice so that he could speak with self'e, """'i '■ ' very right i:i sayi- that y i uno courselor. 1 arn Alocuo Liopnard'a friend; I know how he has suffered - how he suffers yètl I am your devoted servitor, and I realize the noble reminciation it Í3 ir. yot:r p-,"r to raa're. You yourself have hínte u r.ro capable of this fine self-effaeement. But I did not need your own admission to that effect. I have already knowii you too long not to grasp the height and breadth of y i sity." Clarimrrl tnrned on his heel like a i flash, threv botji banda behind him, joining thora there, :n moved slowly awcy "I've horribly deceived you," he shot over his shoulder. "I brought you here in the hope that, although an American, you would prove yourself a courtier, and show me ampie cause that I should plight troth with the womr.n I love. " "Monsieur," replied Eric, following him, "I am far too good a courtier for that! Sincerely as I esteem your character in its entirety, there is one element of it to which I must alwaj's pay primal obeisanee." "You mean?" questioned the king, as Eric now reaohed his side again, in the fragrant twilight of their transient retreat. "Yoii.r pperless conscience, your ueparalloled sense of right?" As the festivity progressed, this evening, noariy everyone conceded that there had been nothing at all resembling: it in brilliance and buoyancy for many and many a month. Indeed, some of the native guests roundly admitted that Clarimond's reign had yet seen no grand assemblage so delightful; for this season more foreigners than usual had gathered at the hotels, ■and among these, where position and antecedents made it possible, the royal invitations had been soniewhat lavishAs a pleasant result the eninment sparkled with novelty. At midniht the doors of the banque'. hall were opened, and wine and vii furnl just the needed result iind enlivened so The tnatr s or orn. Admirati axed with thi entertainment, ladies sought to know lier. Mrs. 1 naird, who had tnaDaged to gjet herself approached and talked toby some of the j most prominent men present, was in an ecstacy of self-frratu!ation. She had once como face to la o vit'i Alonzo, and c liad mannged to make it appear as if i ; she liad not intentionally cut him. It was so hard to treat anyone unamiably Vo-ni.Tht! [TO HE CONTINUED.]