PHILIP 
 VERRILL 
 HIGH ELS
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 UNIT. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 The slightest panic at the steering post, and the crash 
 mould startle the air 
 
 PACK 25
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 BY 
 PHILIP VERRILL MIGHELS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "THE FURNACE OF GOLD" 
 
 Illustrations by 
 JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG 
 
 NEW YORK 
 DESMOND FITZGERALD, INC. 
 
 1911
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1910, 
 BY PHILIP V. MIGHELS 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911, 
 BY DESMOND FITZGERALD, INC. 
 
 All Rights Reserved
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I A SUNSET 1 
 
 II A DEPARTED GLORY 7 
 
 III A COLLEGE WIDOW 11 
 
 IV A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 18 
 
 V TEMPTATION AND A CREST 30 
 
 VI THE GODS OF CHANGE 36 
 
 VII A CINDERELLA PROPOSITION 45 
 
 VIII WANTED, A DISCOVERY 52 
 
 IX REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 58 
 
 X A ROYAL ROLE 69 
 
 XI CONFIRMING A RUMOR 76 
 
 XII HORSES AND HUMANS 81 
 
 XIII ELEMENTS OF COMPLICATION 86 
 
 XIV A TRIUMPH AND A JAR 94 
 
 XV THE FLAW IN THE GEM 101 
 
 XVI Boors TO TREMBLE IN 113 
 
 XVII LOST GROUND TO BE REGAINED 121 
 
 XVIII DELAYED DECISIONS 128 
 
 XIX THREATS AND CARRIAGES 134 
 
 XX AN IMPERIAL VISITOR 143 
 
 XXI WENCK, FOR HERTZEGOTHA 149 
 
 XXII LADY BOUNTIFUL 155 
 
 XXIII THE SOUP THICKENS MORE 162 
 
 XXIV A SINGULAR ALLIANCE 168 
 
 XXV A DUKE IMPENDING 172 
 
 XXVI A ROYAL SUITOR 177 
 
 2131388
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXVII WHAT WALLS MAY SEPARATE 185 
 
 XXVIII THE CAR OF FATES 193 
 
 XXIX BARON HOCHHAUS 203 
 
 XXX A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 211 
 
 XXXI THE CALDRON BUBBLES 223 
 
 XXXII A BAITED TRAP 234 
 
 XXXIII A STILL ALARM 240 
 
 XXXIV A SHATTERED HOPE 249 
 
 XXXV THE ICE BLUE EYES 259 
 
 XXXVI AN OFFER OF HELP 268 
 
 XXXVII THE BARON AND A KNIGHT 276 
 
 XXXVIII THE ONE WEAK LINK 284 
 
 XXXIX A DESPERATE FLIGHT 294 
 
 XL A NIGHT OF TOIL 301 
 
 XLI THE GOLD OF MORNING 310 
 
 XLII THE RACE 318 
 
 XLI II A JOY RESISTED 327 
 
 XLIV UNEXPECTED AID 333 
 
 XLV A DROVE OF LIONS 340 
 
 XLVI ANSWERING THE COUNT 349 
 
 XLVII A THOROUGHBRED 356 
 
 XLVIII A CLIMAX 363 
 
 XLIX A TRYSTING PLACE 369 
 
 L PRINCESS THURLEY 376
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A SUNSET 
 
 AT the end of a perfect day in June, with indolent 
 warmth and perfume in the air, New Haven Har- 
 bor was a theater of color, life, and song. The sunset 
 splashed the dancing tides with gold, vermilion, liquid 
 fire, and blue; a hundred rose- white wings of yachts, 
 canoes, and catboats were lifted gracefully against 
 empurpling shadows as they glided to and fro in paths 
 of pleasure; and a crew of lusty college youths sang 
 tuneful melodies which floated on the lazy breeze in 
 charming harmony with hour and scene and season. 
 It was one of those evenings, perilous throughout the 
 world, in which the very atmosphere becomes the 
 subtlest of love's philters and youth rises gladly to the 
 draft. 
 
 Among the winged water craft was one particularly 
 striking sloop, fast parting the ripples of amethyst and 
 green as she slipped straight homeward toward the 
 landing stage, which was still half a mile to the lee. 
 It was not that the sloop was extra large; it was 
 merely that her sails were gorgeously tinted, in the 
 manner of boats that ply the waterways of Venice. 
 It was a wonderful tint of orange she spread against 
 the sky, with a strange device in gold far up in the 
 peak of her canvas. In the glory of the sun's last
 
 2 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 riot of color, she seemed some fragment of the sea's 
 and sky's mosaic, blown adrift upon it all and bearing 
 away to the green of the wooded shores. And, as if to 
 complete her perfections in the scene, her slender red 
 tiller lay snugly in the palm of a girl of exceptional 
 beauty. 
 
 It was Thurley Ruxton, bare of arm and bare of head, 
 with her eyes gazing straight past Gaillard, sitting 
 near, to the landing stage for which she was skilfully 
 heading. What a marvel of color she presented ! Her 
 hair was gold, absolute gold, of astonishing luxuriance 
 and luster. Her eyes were the deepest of chocolate 
 brown. Her brows were almost black, and arched with 
 exquisite lightness of outline. In her cheeks glowed 
 the warmth of a soft, red rose, against a white-rose tint 
 of neck and chin. Her lips, which out-reddened the 
 sunset's own vermilion, were slightly parted over teeth 
 of daintiest regularity and pearliness. Her costume, 
 of gold-brown pongee silk, with a tiny crimson tie, 
 found the most engaging completeness in her little, red, 
 low cut shoes, near the big, shining brown ones of 
 Gaillard. 
 
 The boat was Gaillard's Tigress. Thurley had 
 sailed it before, while he, as now, had sat there to 
 watch her in his calm, unemotional manner, nodding ap- 
 proval from time to time with an air of conceded lord- 
 ship over all. Perhaps it was something in this lord- 
 ship attitude that appealed to Thurley's nature. 
 
 She was capable, fearless, and self-reliant herself, 
 and such a woman loves in a man the strong, primordial 
 assumption of ownership. She had, however, loved 
 him from the first; and five long months of consent in 
 her heart had effaced all possibility of analysis, either
 
 A SUNSET 3 
 
 of her own emotions or of Gaillard's character. She 
 was happy in his presence, particularly happy here 
 this evening, and that was almost enough. The fact 
 that no actual pledge had passed between them was 
 the least of her negligible worries. By a thousand 
 signs she felt secure in possession of his love. 
 
 Despite the fact that her gaze was apparently 
 fixed on the shoreward course, she was watching him 
 now and thrilling anew as she felt his frequent glances 
 fall upon her. She met one such look with all the 
 glory of her eyes, giving him generously the fondness, 
 the admiration, the confession, of her inmost self, while 
 a warm tide of color rose to her face from the quick, 
 happy tripping of her heart. 
 
 He was handsome, big, and athletic, a smooth- 
 shaved, blue-eyed fellow of robust health and color, 
 with the blackest of hair and the straightest, most per- 
 fect of features. In his white flannel suit, immaculate 
 and absolutely faultless, he fitted a niche on his spot- 
 less sloop as a diamond fits in its setting. He was pos- 
 sibly a trifle overperfect, a condition due perhaps to 
 lifelong familiarity with wealth and all its tendencies 
 to focus one's attentions on oneself. But Thurley was 
 gratified, thoroughly, in all the demands of her being. 
 He was a splendid product of the very latest moment. 
 She loved him and, heavens ! what a setting for love 
 was this tropic water, air, and sky ! 
 
 A catboat, crowded full of Eli's joyous sons, went 
 frothing by not twenty yards away. With one accord 
 the boyish skipper and his company swung off their 
 caps to Thurley, calling out in gladness of the meeting. 
 And all were repaid by her friendly smile, despite their 
 deep-laid envy of Gaillard. They were gone in a mo-
 
 4 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ment; yet in Thurley's heart they left exultation. 
 She was honestly glad to be popular, glad to be ad- 
 mired, and glad to know what homage she declined 
 from day to day in her absolute devotion to himself. 
 
 The more she could bring him of these gifts refused, 
 the more precious she would be in his sight. And to 
 be to him dearer than all the world, to be as priceless 
 in his daily estimation as he had become to herself, 
 this was the dream for which at last she had given the 
 kiss that symbolized to her the custody of all her sacred 
 being. Yet the look she beheld in Gaillard's face 
 when the boys had surged by in their course, was need- 
 lessly inscrutable, even to her unexacting mind. 
 
 But the end of the cruise was at hand. She guided 
 the sloop with automatic skill, doubling round to come 
 up in the wind and so make the landing at the stage. 
 Then at last she observed, as they neared their goal, 
 the tall, slender figure of Major John Phipps, as he 
 lifted his hat in salute. 
 
 If a momentary twinge of disappointment, occa- 
 sioned by Gaillard's neglect to snatch at a moment in 
 which to murmur some sweet bit of nothingness all for 
 themselves, slightly colored the joy of the outing's end, 
 she cast it aside with other trifling flaws in the deep- 
 lying pleasure of the hour. 
 
 The sloop nosed quietly up beside the planks, and 
 was caught by the jacky there in charge. The Major, 
 his face aglow beneath his crown of snow-white hair and 
 overhanging brows, stepped like the veriest young 
 gallant to the rail to offer a hand for Thurley's disem- 
 barking. 
 
 " By Pollux ! " he said. " You manage a boat like 
 a master, Miss Ruxton! Yes, you do, I swear! I've
 
 A SUNSET 5 
 
 been watching, watching for the last fifteen minutes. 
 Superb! How are you, Acton? How do you do?" 
 
 " 0. K.," responded Gaillard succinctly, " thanks." 
 
 Thurley gave one of her hands to Gaillard, the other 
 to the Major, and bounded out upon the stage. She 
 was smiling in genuine pleasure. 
 
 " It's the Tigress you find superb," she said, " su- 
 perbly trained and tamed. But thank you, Major 
 Phipps. I shall treasure your compliment most 
 highly." 
 
 " I meant it, Miss Thurley, I meant it all," declared 
 the Major earnestly. " Let me add in proof of my sin- 
 cerity that I'm looking out for a clever young woman 
 to steer the course of my literary labors, down at 
 my New York headquarters. And I said to myself, as 
 I saw you bring in the Tigress, ' Now, there's the 
 young woman for the business ! ' I did, by Pollux ! 
 I said so, emphatically!" 
 
 Gaillard was looking at him stonily. 
 
 Thurley slightly colored. " Why but what 
 an idea ! " 
 
 " Excellent, I call it excellent," continued the 
 Major. " Some one said you're teaching French and 
 German here, Miss Thurley. Limited field and prob- 
 ably quite inadequate remuneration for any young 
 woman of your ability. Takes brains, you know, to 
 sail a sloop. I wish I might prevail upon you now, 
 right here, to undertake the guidance of my labors. 
 That is, of course, if you " He left it unfinished 
 as he noted on her cheeks the telltale banner of color. 
 
 Gaillard was still dumb and staring. 
 
 " You are very, very thoughtful," said Thurley 
 quietly, turning a momentary glance on Gaillard;
 
 6 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " but I fear I shall have to " She paused, and the 
 moment grew embarrassing. 
 
 "I see I see," said the Major hurriedly, redden- 
 ing himself and smiling understandingly on them both. 
 " By Pollux ! Of course ! Pardonable blindness, I 
 trust. No such oversight intended. Glad to know 
 you'll ahem ! guide a far more ahem poetic 
 But I assure you I feel my loss keenly, Miss 
 Thurley, very keenly indeed, especially after I'd made 
 up my mind to but Acton, what a gorgeous 
 sunset ! " 
 
 " Very fine," said Gaillard, and he took out his 
 watch and gave it a glance with a barely perceptible 
 show of impatience. 
 
 " The sunset reminds me, Major, that we must 
 hurry," said Thurley, feeling some constraint in 
 Gaillard's manner. " Thank you, very much and 
 good by." 
 
 She held out her hand, which the Major took for a 
 momentary pressure. And when they had gone he 
 stood gazing earnestly on the regal young figure of 
 the girl at Gaillard's side, as the two walked away 
 toward the town.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 A DEPARTED GLORY 
 
 THEY had always walked the mile to Thurley's home, 
 to prolong their hour of pleasure. To-night, as the 
 dusk of evening slowly gathered, they were both excep- 
 tionally silent. Gaillard, indeed, had been far more 
 than usually reserved all afternoon. 
 
 To Thurley's feminine intuition was presently vouch- 
 safed an inkling of portent in the air. From time to 
 time she cast a glance at Gaillard's face, as if to read 
 his thoughts. She found him gazing straight ahead, 
 persistently. A worry that she could not gloss with 
 day-end happiness was present in her mind. 
 
 When she spoke at last she went frankly to the issue 
 that she felt had been presented. " What a very odd 
 encounter with the Major! It was just a little bit 
 emba r ras s in g. " 
 
 Gaillard answered, " Yes." He still looked straight 
 ahead. 
 
 For some strange, inexplicable reason, Thurley felt 
 a sinking at her heart. She summoned her courage 
 to proceed. " It was kind of the Major, I am sure, 
 to make me such an offer ; but of course " 
 
 She halted it there, wishing to have him complete 
 her thought, wishing to see him flare up warmly, de- 
 clare his ownership in all she was, and even abuse the 
 Major for his blunder. 
 
 But he stared up the thoroughfare and was silent, 
 while she waited at his side. Then at last he said, 
 
 7
 
 8 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 somewhat hoarsely, " Why didn't you accept what he 
 offered? " 
 
 For a moment she was certain she had heard incor- 
 rectly, that some unreal fear in her breast had voiced 
 itself, as if from his scarcely parted lips ; but, looking 
 intently on his set, averted face, she felt an almost 
 overwhelming weakness attack her, and her cheeks lost 
 their color and were white. 
 
 " But Acton you How could I ? " she fal- 
 tered helplessly. " After all that's happened be- 
 tween " and she halted as before. 
 
 " All what? " he said after a moment. 
 
 He could hardly have asked a question more brutal. 
 She realized suddenly that all she had given, her love, 
 her kiss, which to her had been so very much indeed, 
 meant possibly nothing at all to him, save a pleasure to 
 be taken for the asking. Even then she did not and 
 could not wholly credit her senses. 
 
 " All what! " she repeated weakly. " All what! " 
 
 " Yes all what ? " His voice was increasing in 
 firmness as he found her weak instead of accusing. " I 
 should think you'd be glad of the Major's splen- 
 did offer. It might mean a very great improve- 
 ment." 
 
 " Do you mean," she said, as one in a dream, " that 
 that all you've said to me and all the attention 
 that everything we've everything means nothing at 
 all ? You you're not suggesting, really " 
 
 " See here, Thurley," he broke in immediately, 
 " this sort of thing couldn't go on forever ! You 
 know that. I'm going away to-morrow, and I'm going 
 abroad next week." 
 
 All the weight of his meaning, suspended before, 
 crashed down on her unprotected head, as it were, and
 
 A DEPARTED GLORY 9 
 
 left her partially stunned. She could barely think. 
 She could not reason ; she could not rise to anger. 
 
 " This sort of thing? " she repeated. 
 
 " Certainly just the usual college sort of thing," 
 he confessed baldly. " You knew all along I'd some 
 day leave and follow my career, the career my family 
 will naturally expect, which of course never contem- 
 plated this." 
 
 She closed her eyes for the shame that rushed upon 
 her, not so much for his intimation that between his 
 family and hers there could be no hint of equality, not 
 so much for this as for that sickening characterization 
 of their association as the " usual college sort of 
 thing." 
 
 Her whole nature shrank upon itself, abashed and 
 quivering. The love she had given him she could not 
 snatch away, it had gone beyond recalling; but the 
 love she had folded to her heart his love was 
 gone, while still her hands were blindly groping. It 
 had never been hers ; it had been a college loan, to be 
 taken away like a pin or any trinket. 
 
 It seemed incredible, the whole affair, untrue that a 
 man could change like this within a time so brief, after 
 all he had said and all he had done and all she had 
 given of her love. 
 
 Her voice was trembling when she spoke. " You 
 Acton, you surely do not mean that I'm not to see 
 you any more that this is " 
 
 " Why of course we may meet sometime 
 again," he interposed. " Now let's forget it. We've 
 been good friends, and what more could we ask? 
 You've always been a thoroughbred, and I thought of 
 course you'd be one to the end." 
 
 A thoroughbred ! The end ! She could make no re-
 
 10 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ply. She walked on in silence at his side. The shades 
 of evening enfolded the world. The city lights were 
 gleaming in their mundane firmament. A thin, chill 
 stratum in the atmosphere swept by and almost made 
 her shiver. She felt strangely benumbed and unreal, 
 incapable for the moment of accepting as her own the 
 pain that had come to her breast. 
 
 The little side gate at the house where Thurley lived 
 was standing wide open when at last they came to the 
 end of their walk in the dusk. Gaillard went in behind 
 her, as she felt he would, and caught at her hand when 
 they came to the all-concealing arbor in the garden. 
 It was here he had kissed her just a week ago. 
 
 " Good by, Thurley," he said. " You're a thorough- 
 bred, all right. It's no good to be foolish and harbor 
 ill feelings, you'll admit." He drew her forward, in 
 his way of ownership, to kiss her as before. 
 
 " No ! " she said. " No ! " and she pushed him off 
 in the anger that was rising in her nature. " No 
 more of the college sort of thing not even a college 
 good by." 
 
 She had snatched her hand from his grasp. Her 
 eyes took on a look of molten lava. During one scorch- 
 ing second she studied his face for a sign, overlooked 
 in her former trust, and beheld it on his lip and on his 
 brow. Then, suddenly turning, she left him there and 
 swiftly escaped to the house. 
 
 He stood for a moment gazing toward the door, and 
 even started to follow up the path; but he presently 
 faced about to the gate and slowly retreated down the 
 street. 
 
 The dream was at an end. The sky had taken on 
 a leaden gray, all the duller for the now departed 
 glories.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A COLLEGE WIDOW 
 
 THE house where Thurley made her home was a board- 
 ing place exclusively for women. The building itself 
 had once been a fine dwelling, in a fashionable quarter 
 of the town. The quarter had, however, long since 
 been deserted by the more exclusive set, now gone to an 
 avenue of gold. 
 
 The property had come by descent to the ownership 
 of the Misses Prue and Lavinia Lagree, both spinsters, 
 gray of hair, but of admirable disposition, in the care 
 of whom half a dozen young women, including Thurley 
 Ruxton, had flourished in exceptional comfort. 
 
 To-night, as she let herself in at the door, Thurley 
 crept to the stairs like a robber. She could not bear 
 to meet the various inmates of the place and have them 
 read her story in her face. She fled to her room with- 
 out a sound, slipped in, locked the door, and then stood 
 swaying, with her eyes tightly closed, and one hand 
 pressed upon her bosom. 
 
 It was over all of it over and gone ; and she, 
 the proud, untouched by the rouge of mere flirtation, 
 after months of exceptional popularity, with all its 
 attendant temptations she, no less than the weakest 
 of her sex, was the merest college widow, after all! 
 
 A wave of mortification submerged her at the 
 thought. A college widow ! another of the wretched, 
 abandoned amusements with which the town was trag- 
 
 11
 
 12 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ically populated! A college widow! The name itself 
 was a ribaldry, a scornful derision that would raise a 
 smile to the lips of countless students still to come, 
 who, in turn, would flirt, awaken love, and finally de- 
 part, leaving other college widows in their course. 
 
 And even yet it was not her pride that was wounded 
 most ; not yet, despite .this outcome that she felt so de- 
 testably degrading. Her love had gone deeper than her 
 pride, and in this she suffered shame and poignant 
 anguish. 
 
 She had loved him so completely, so joyously, with 
 all her strong young nature! She had loved him this 
 evening, out in the sunset glow, with a new, sweet sense 
 of surrender which it seemed he must almost have felt 
 and understood. She had loved him so trustfully, 
 dreaming her dreams, that now, with revulsions engulf- 
 ing all her soul, she was rendered fairly faint with 
 changed emotions. 
 
 She groped her way to the couch at last and fell on 
 it in a mood of anger, despair, and humiliation. She 
 did not cry; she simply hid her face and clenched both 
 her fists till they ached. if 
 
 Through every stage of wounded love she passed, to 
 the stages of anger. Her pride had undergone indig- 
 nities, and when it came to share in the woundings of 
 her heart she was slowly making ready for reaction. 
 
 It came at last as a heated resentment that tinged 
 every nerve of her being. She was angry all through, 
 and something superb was in her indignation. Never- 
 theless, she did not descend to the evening meal; but 
 lay for an hour on the couch before she felt she could 
 even light the gas and stand face to face with her mir- 
 ror.
 
 13 
 
 When she did rise she stood abruptly, charged all at 
 once with a resolution splendid in its strength. She 
 would not succumb ! She would not permit her heart to 
 ache to breaking! She would not permit the world to 
 know that another college widow was to let ! 
 
 Galled in her pride by Gaillard's intimation that her 
 origin was not on a par with his own, smarted by a 
 realization that something of his hint was doubtless 
 true, and stung by the sense that as long as she re- 
 mained a teacher of languages in this college town she 
 would be but a target for futile admiration and passing 
 affairs, she resolved that everything should change, 
 and Fate become her slave and not her master. 
 
 A thoroughbred ! Yes, she'd prove she was a thor- 
 oughbred! No pain of heart should lie upon her 
 sleeve ! No sallow cheek, no faded smile, no sunken eye 
 or trembling lip, should advertise her plight! She 
 meant to laugh, to flirt, to sing, and then, in a week, 
 or maybe even less, go down to New York, accept the 
 offer made by Major Phipps, and deliberately under- 
 take the task of forcing herself to the top. 
 
 She- knew not how such a thing could be achieved; 
 she merely knew that it had been accomplished by 
 others in the past, and she felt that, though a thousand 
 obstacles should loom across her path, she could find 
 the strength in her outraged heart to meet and sur- 
 mount them all. 
 
 She lighted her gas. There on her bureau lay an en- 
 velope, and behind it stood a photograph of Gaillard, 
 mutely gazing on her face. Tempted for a moment to 
 catch up the picture and tear it into fragments, she 
 altered her mind, opened a drawer, and swept it in, face 
 downward, among a lot of empty bonbon boxes, faded
 
 14. THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 roses, and ribbons which had come with many of his 
 favors. The envelope fell to the floor, and she bent and 
 took it up. 
 
 For a moment she glanced at it idly before she tore 
 it apart. Then she knew what it was, an invitation, 
 wrongly addressed and hence delayed, but sent three 
 days before by Mrs. Clayton-White, one of New Ha- 
 ven's newest newly rich, to a " Topsyturvy " ball at her 
 home this present night. The ball was one to which 
 women were privileged to invite male acquaintances of 
 their choice. 
 
 Not only did Thurley decide on the instant to attend, 
 but she also determined to ask as her escort a hopeful 
 admirer, good-natured Harry Shattuck, who alone of 
 Gaillard's set had bested him at fencing and at chess. 
 Color leaped warmly to her face at the thought that 
 Gaillard himself would almost certainly be at the ball. 
 She glanced at the mirror, gave a few restoring sweeps 
 to her hair, then ran to the door and down the stairs 
 to the 'phone at the rear of the hall. 
 
 Shattuck responded across the wire in a spirit of 
 youthful exultation. Not only was he free to go to 
 the ball, but also he was wild to attend, and would call 
 at nine with his limousine car, and he knew they'd 
 have a " ripping time." 
 
 Half an hour later Thurley was robing in her room, 
 with one of the girls of the house to dress her hair. 
 She had swallowed a cold, belafed dinner ; but had never 
 appeared more animated in her life. The light in her 
 eyes was a flame of warning fire ; the pride in the poise 
 of her regal little head was the natural, unstudied out- 
 come of her newly completed resolve. 
 
 She was gowned at last, in a shimmering pale-green
 
 15 
 
 toilet as filmy as a gossamer. It was cut only slightly 
 decollete; but, with the marvelously contrasted color- 
 ing of her lips, brows, eyes, and hair, it made a 
 startling combination of things irresistibly charming. 
 Only a faint flush of rose tint played in the perfect 
 oval of her face, a color moving now toward her tem- 
 ples, now toward her chin, as if some zephyr wafted 
 it thus about as it wafts a changing tint upon a 
 meadow. 
 
 Shattuck arrived ahead of time, and his car softly 
 purred at the gate. Then, when at length it was halted 
 at the Clayton-Whites' and Thurley and Shattuck 
 alighted, the one thing possible to make her moment 
 triumphantly complete actually had the grace to occur. 
 Gaillard arrived with a little Miss Snow, driven in an 
 ordinary cab ; and there in the glare of a white electric 
 arc a greeting was exchanged between the four. 
 
 The smile and nod with which, apparently so far as 
 Thurley was concerned, the affair of the afternoon was 
 dismissed, disconcerted Gaillard utterly. Indeed, the 
 last person he had expected to encounter here was 
 Thurley Ruxton. Already his evening was beginning 
 with a scowl. 
 
 It was Thurley's hour. Never had any hour within 
 her life been more thoroughly conceded to her queen- 
 ship. 
 
 Gaillard, unable to endure it longer, forced his way, 
 as if by unsurrendered right, through the group to her 
 side. 
 
 She met his gaze and nodded brightly. 
 
 " May I ask for your card ? " he said, burning red to 
 his ears. " I hope for a waltz or two or three." 
 
 " There isn't one too bad ! " she said, smiling at
 
 16 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 him gayly. " Perhaps you could ask for an extra. 
 Ask Mrs. White." 
 
 " I will," he said. 
 
 He did, and was granted his boon. Thurley danced 
 with him gladly. 
 
 And something that savored of divinity in motion 
 was generously bestowed upon her. Something pos- 
 sessed her to waltz in Gaillard's arms as she never had 
 waltzed in her life. She led him to brinks of new in- 
 fatuation, all to hide the truth that for an hour he had 
 crushed her like a rose beneath his feet. It appeared 
 to all that nothing had been changed, as they watched 
 the pair together on the floor. 
 
 Gaillard himself was bewildered, not only by her 
 wonderful recovery, but far more than ever by her 
 beauty. Some mad impatience to snatch back his own- 
 ership goaded his vanity anew. 
 
 " Thurley," he said, looking down in her eyes, " I 
 want one more of those waltzes. I've got to have two 
 or three more." 
 
 She laughed. " Doesn't that sound like little Oliver 
 Twist? Mustn't it be dreadful to want more mush, 
 school mush, or college mush, especially when there isn't 
 any more left? " 
 
 He felt she was laughing at him, treating his wishes 
 as a joke. " I didn't know you were coming here to- 
 night," he said. " You might have invited me." 
 
 " I thought you might be packing your trunk," she 
 answered innocently. " I'm almost sure you said you 
 were leaving to-morrow." 
 
 He glared down at her half angrily. " You don't 
 care ! " he said. 
 
 "About what?" she answered. "Dancing? Oh,
 
 A COLLEGE WIDOW 17 
 
 yes, I do and that tall, ungainly looking Billy Link- 
 erton waltzes like a swallow. You'd never believe it in 
 the world. He's a bifurcated poem. He glides like 
 a jellyfish in cream. You'd as soon expect a ladder to 
 attempt a minuet; but he really has a soul for 
 rhythmic motion." 
 
 She could think of nothing further to add to all this 
 frippery, and Gaillard, utterly incapable of compre- 
 hending her mood, and annoyed and piqued, relapsed 
 into sullenness. 
 
 To Thurley, in the moment that the waltz was ended, 
 came ineffable relief. A dozen eager swains were pres- 
 ently swarming about her as before, and Gaillard could 
 do nothing but retreat. 
 
 Nevertheless, she was faint at heart, now that the 
 worst of it was over. The dance with Gaillard had 
 proved to be an ordeal taxing all her powers. She was 
 weak, despite her air of buoyancy, and conscious al- 
 ways of a deep-lying hurt. 
 
 By twelve o'clock, when her purpose was fulfilled, 
 the reaction came upon her. Beginning to be phys- 
 ically exhausted, she found herself the ready prey of 
 all the aches postponed by her artificial joys. Her 
 game had been played, her triumph was complete; but 
 she had barely the strength to meet the demands of her 
 most exacting role through the process of making her 
 escape. 
 
 She left with Shattuck in his waiting car and was 
 taken directly home. A final sparkle of incandescence 
 was conjured to her eyes in the smile she gave him at 
 parting. Then at last she was once more alone in her 
 room, sadly requiring rest.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 
 
 WHAT an eon of time a few heavy weeks may seen, 
 when an unexpected crisis has inaugurated a new life's 
 calendar! It was nearly five months since that sunset 
 hour in which Thurley Ruxton's dream had faded in 
 the sky, and even less since she had taken charge of the 
 work for Major Phipps ; yet it seemed a time, that ex- 
 tended far back into other ages of her being. 
 
 To-day, with fates and change once more impending, 
 she felt she knew not what. She was not precisely 
 sick at heart, but perhaps merely overwhelmed and ut- 
 terly belittled by the size, the indifference, the cease- 
 less heave and tumult, of gigantic New York, the city 
 that, having been made by man, now made and unmade 
 him in an hour. The huge device of stone and iron had 
 received her as the sea receives a raindrop. She was 
 one of a swarm of human beings, all blindly working, 
 working, working, as bees seem to work, no one in- 
 dividual for himself alone, but each for all, despite him- 
 self, to gratify the law of existence. 
 
 It was not to be escaped, comprehended, or meas- 
 ured, this unrelenting enginery of life. There seemed 
 to be nothing, absolutely nothing, she could do to lift 
 herself apart. She was simply submerged in the hu- 
 man tide which must rise or fall with the mighty laws 
 that govern the cosmic scheme. 
 
 18
 
 A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 19 
 
 She was sitting alone in Central Park, far out on 
 its western border, pondering all her former dreams of 
 rising to some brilliant eminence, on which to receive 
 the tribute of the world. The day had been cool. A 
 few drops of rain had driven scores of park visitors 
 back to their homes. 
 
 Thurley was weary enough, after four miles of walk- 
 ing, to be glad of a rest on a bench. During the first 
 exciting weeks of her metropolitan adventures she had 
 sought, with conspicuous success, to achieve an under- 
 standing of the ways to genuine usefulness in directing 
 the work that Major Phipps was so mightily toiling to 
 produce. She had likewise been confident of bounding 
 soon to splendid* things. She had won the Major's ap- 
 proval, his gratitude and trust, from the first of her 
 employment. But she had found herself uncomfort- 
 ably popular with all his force of clerks, and then her 
 disillusionment had presently begun. 
 
 The Major was her loyal friend, sincere and earnest 
 in his praise, and that was all. She had neither expected 
 nor desired social equality or opening of the mag- 
 ical door from the source of this association. She had 
 readily discovered a fairly agreeable domicile; her 
 wages were saving themselves. Altogether it appeared 
 as if, after all, the commonplace Fates had assumed a 
 foster parenthood to guard her on a simple, modest 
 way, regardless of her dreams. A certain sort of util- 
 itarian career seemed, in its sphere, even fair and prom- 
 ising ; but then there was something that constantly 
 gnawed at her inmost heart. 
 
 The one brief effort she had made to discover a 
 cousin, Edith Steck by name, whom she had vaguely 
 known to be somewhere in New York city, failed, and
 
 20 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 had never since been renewed. She had thought at the 
 time that loneliness explained the sum total of her 
 cares. She knew at last it was not that only, but 
 things that went deep as life itself. 
 
 She had purposely avoided proffered friendships of 
 the useless, unedifying description, choosing to remain 
 aloof from anything save mere acknowledgments of 
 acquaintance with all her fellow workers and the peo- 
 ple of the house where she lived. To-day she won- 
 dered if it had paid. She almost wished for any sort 
 of friends, provided they were honest and sincere. 
 
 For fifteen minutes she scarcely stirred, sitting there 
 lost in meditation. To what would it lead, this toil and 
 hope, this excursion into the maelstrom of the town. 
 What might anyone, situated thus, achieve at last, 
 now that she was launched upon the tide? A faint, 
 mirthless smile crept slowly to her lips, freshening the 
 radiance of her beauty. She shook her head, as if her 
 knowing self thus gently rebuked the self of groundless 
 dreams. 
 
 How beautiful was all the scene! This was almost 
 enough to require, the bright green grass, with scat- 
 tered leaves of vermilion and amber upon it, the gold 
 and garnet trees, the cool, sweet air, saturated full of 
 essences autumnal. 
 
 Idly she gazed across the park, then at a squirrel 
 frisking joyously by. Thus her glance came presently 
 to rest on a small, white object lying on the grass, 
 just at the end of her bench. The object was a hand- 
 kerchief, a dainty lace confection, immaculately clean, 
 folded in the neatest little square, and marked with a 
 small, raised design. She took it up. A faint, subtle 
 fragrance was wafted to her senses. The tiny thing
 
 A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 21 
 
 was of cobweb frailty. The design was a crest, 
 wrought with exquisite art in the tissue. 
 
 She was holding it carelessly, when a muffled percus- 
 sion attracted her gaze down the level roadway to a 
 shadowed turn, some distance off in the trees. There 
 a large blue touring car was leisurely rolling into view, 
 in charge of a bareheaded man, a fine but bored 
 appearing young viking, who was driving about alone. 
 
 Thurley, watching, felt a sudden splash of rain 
 which brought her to her feet with quick decision to 
 move to better shelter; but the shower broke almost in- 
 stantly, quite unheralded, as if it had spilled through a 
 sieve. 
 
 It was one of those downpours, swift and violent, 
 against which an umbrella is practically no protection. 
 Thurley raised her silken tent at once, however, and 
 fled to the base of a tree, still watching the car in the 
 road. 
 
 The driver, she noted, was clean shaven, broad shoul- 
 dered, and ruddy. He was obviously disturbed by the 
 drenching of a robe in the rear of his car, and cast a 
 quick look upward at the sky. Making a momentary 
 spurt, as if to race and so abbreviate his discomfort, or 
 concern, he abruptly altered his mind, halting the car 
 not fifty feet from the place where Thurley stood. 
 Then, attempting to leap out hurriedly, over his levers 
 and the casing for extra tires, he was tripped and 
 thrown with exceptional violence, landing face down- 
 ward in the road with an arm crumpled awkwardly be- 
 neath him. 
 
 Thurley uttered a little cry, to see him plunge so 
 heavily on his under-twisted hand. She moved a few 
 steps forward in the rain. He scrambled at once to his
 
 22 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 feet and turned, his face tensely drawn and excessively 
 white, his left hand clinging to his limber right wrist 
 as he weakly reeled back against the car. 
 
 That the man was in agony was obvious. The elo- 
 quence of pain was in his poise. He could barely 
 stand. The rain beat down on him savagely. 
 
 Out across the intervening space Thurley ran with- 
 out a moment's hesitation. Her umbrella was raised 
 and rain was bouncing from its roof. 
 
 " You're hurt ! " she said as she came to the car. 
 " Perhaps there is something I can do." 
 
 The man had seen her coming. He gazed at her 
 mutely for a moment, his lips compressed with pain. 
 
 " It's broken," he said, " my wrist." 
 
 Thurley had come sufficiently close to hold her um- 
 brella above him. It had all been done in obedience to 
 something impulsive in her nature. The man was suf- 
 fering intensely. She had utterly forgotten herself. 
 
 " Tell me what to do," she said in her earnest man- 
 ner. "I know it pains you horribly. What shall I 
 do to help? " 
 
 He tried to smile, then closed his eyes, leaning 
 heavily against the wheel, a muscle twitching near his 
 mouth. The rain entirely ceased, as abruptly as it 
 had come. 
 
 " I suppose I'll have to let some one drive me home," 
 he said, struggling with a quiver of pain in all his be- 
 ing ; " but I hardly like to impose upon you, to ask 
 you to look me up a man." 
 
 " Couldn't I drive you to the nearest relief? " asked 
 Thurley simply. " It might take so long to find 
 help." 
 
 He looked at her curiously. His eyes, despite his
 
 A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 23 
 
 hurt, burned warmly, in tribute to her beauty. He 
 thought he had never in his life beheld a face so nearly 
 divine. And indeed, as Thurley stood there by his car, 
 unconsciously sublimated by her sympathy, she pre- 
 sented a vision that for sheer sweet loveliness could 
 scarcely have been matched in all the world. 
 
 "You drive?" he said, with no attempt to con- 
 ceal an astonished incredulity. " Do you mean that 
 you could really take the wheel? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, if you need me, need my help," she an- 
 swered readily. " It can't be very far, I'm sure, to a 
 place where where of course you will do much bet- 
 ter." She hesitated, looking at him gravely, adding, 
 " I couldn't do less. I knew you were hurt. I 
 couldn't stand by and do nothing." 
 
 " You are very kind," he said, looking at her oddly, 
 as before. " I hope you will pardon my wretched 
 limpness. I'll probably feel much better sitting 
 down." 
 
 " Shall I help you to get in the car? " she inquired. 
 " Perhaps you'd better lean on my arm." 
 
 " No no I'm all right quite all right if 
 you'll just get in," he replied, and weakly he followed 
 where she passed round in front of the car to mount 
 the unobstructed side. 
 
 " If you'll tell me where to go," she said, as she took 
 her place, with the wheel in hand, and speeded up the 
 motor, " I'll do my best to " 
 
 " Down through the park to Columbus Circle," he 
 interrupted, sinking limply in his seat. " Kindly over- 
 look my impatience." 
 
 She dropped back the brake, with her foot on the 
 clutch, set the speed control at the first, and the car
 
 24 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 glided smoothly up the road. Half a minute later she 
 had shifted to direct, and her passenger nodded his 
 approval. 
 
 He continued to cling to his wrist. The pain had 
 surged entirely through his system, down as far as his 
 knees. It had sickened and rendered him utterly nerve- 
 less ; nevertheless, as he looked on her face, he was 
 strangely abstracted from his suffering. 
 
 A sudden outburst of sunlight was poured down on 
 her at a parting of the clouds, and the gold of it made 
 her a goddess. She had dropped the dainty lace hand- 
 kerchief down beside his foot ; but neither of them knew 
 it was there. 
 
 Round a narrow curve she swung the car and the 
 man beside her started, uttered a smothered note of 
 apprehension, and rigidly froze in his seat. 
 
 Bearing down on them, in criminal madness of speed, 
 two huge red cars, with hoods abreast, were racing like 
 motion-crazy demons. 
 
 They practically occupied the road, and to it they 
 clung, each of the drivers stubbornly determined that 
 the other must slack and give off to the side to let the 
 blue touring car pass. 
 
 Thurley was out at the middle of the road. There 
 was neither time nor opportunity to shift her position. 
 The two wild comets charging lawlessly upon her were 
 scarcely more than four feet apart, from wheel to 
 wheel. 
 
 A momentary indecision, a gasp of helpless fright, 
 and she and her passenger, car and all, would be hope- 
 lessly in collision with one or the other of the fools in 
 the road, where death might claim them all. 
 
 The man at her side was out of it absolutely.
 
 A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER 25 
 
 Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, so imminent did 
 disaster appear. Even had he held the wheel himself, 
 he could scarcely have known what to do. 
 
 It happened in the briefest fraction of a minute. 
 Thurley stayed with the middle of the thoroughfare, 
 driving as true as a die for the space between the on- 
 rushing monsters. It was far too narrow to let her 
 through when she headed for the gap. She could only 
 hope to wedge it wider. 
 
 For a terrible second everything seemed hopeless. 
 The wreckage of all three cars seemed inescapable as 
 the coughing minotaurs hurtled upon her position. 
 The swerve of an inch, a second's unsteadiness, the 
 slightest panic at the steering post, and the crash would 
 startle the air. 
 
 She was almost upon the race-tied pair when they 
 gave to the nerve she was displaying. Even then they 
 relinquished but a trifle apiece and between the two, 
 as they racketed by, she passed with a hand's width to 
 spare. 
 
 " The fools ! " cried the man who rode at Thurley's 
 side. Then he sank even deeper into his seat, from 
 sheer relief to all his throbbing nerves, plus the pain 
 unrelenting in his wrist. " That was superb ! " 
 
 A wave of color passed lightly across Thurley's 
 cheek. She began to realize the strangeness of the 
 situation, now that the threatened climax to the ride 
 had sped away to the rear. 
 
 "You are going to a doctor first, I suppose?" she 
 said, as she glanced about for a possible policeman and 
 gave the car a perceptible touch of speed. " Your 
 hand must pain you dreadfully." 
 
 "I we're going we'll see " he answered unde-
 
 26 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 cidedly. After a moment he added, " Perhaps I can 
 manage to present my card," and he started as if to 
 grope in a pocket with his uninjured hand. 
 
 " Please don't ! " she begged. She cast him a quick, 
 inquiring glance. "Is it necessary?" Up to now 
 there had been for her no element of personality in all 
 the encounter. 
 
 He tried to smile again, despite his pain. " Is any- 
 thing necessary anything that you or I did?" 
 
 For a moment she did not answer. Then she said, 
 " Well it happened. Here we are." 
 
 " Yes, it happened. Perhaps you'd rather I'd not 
 introduce myself or inquire who you are? " 
 
 She colored. Someway, she did not care to confess 
 that she was Thurley Ruxton, ex-teacher of French and 
 German in a college town, and at present amanuensis 
 for a reminiscent Major of the army. She someway 
 felt that, for the moment at least, she occupied a sphere 
 far different. And she had come to New York to 
 escape the past, and escape her very self. Moreover, 
 the touch of mystery the moment afforded, like a cloak 
 in which to wrap herself, appealed to her sense of humor 
 and the fitness of the situation. She flashed him a sun- 
 lit glance. 
 
 " Your wrist is the only thing that counts." 
 
 He continued to study her face, to marvel at her 
 beauty, her poise, her mastery over the car. " At 
 least I'd know whom to thank," he said. " That would 
 gratify me greatly." 
 
 Her eyes were on the road ahead. They were 
 lustrous with excitement and her natural animation. 
 " Why attempt it, especially as I'd rather you 
 wouldn't ? " she replied.
 
 27 
 
 " My impulse prompts a sense of obligation, just as 
 your impulse prompted this." 
 
 Her face became more grave, with sudden realization 
 of what she had done. " But you were seriously hurt 
 you were helpless. I hope I was not inexcusably 
 bold." 
 
 " Oh, please ! " he pleaded. " Please be more kind 
 to a pure, uncalculating spirit of humanism, if not to 
 me. It was my wrist that was impaired, not my 
 discernment." 
 
 Thurley made no immediate reply. Apparently all 
 her faculties were focused on the car. They rode for 
 a time in silence. 
 
 " What a splendid team those horses ! " she pres- 
 ently exclaimed, partly to relieve a situation that 
 she felt was becoming hard to sustain. " They're 
 beauties ! " 
 
 The team in question was approaching in the road, 
 far ahead. They were glossy bays, each with white 
 feet that rose and fell in perfect unison to the tinkle 
 and ringing of the silver equipment on the harness. 
 They were driven to a landau of dark maroon, with 
 coachman and footman in white, maroon, and black. 
 On the cushions, alone and discontented, sat a woman 
 well toward thirty-five, in the costliest of furs, and 
 infinitely bored with all the world. 
 
 The man at Thurley's side glanced quickly from her 
 face to the carriage they were about to encounter. 
 " Oh I wonder if you'd mind stopping," he asked 
 her hurriedly, " just for half a moment? " 
 
 Thurley immediately threw out the clutch and applied 
 the brake. 
 
 The woman in the landau had not only seen them
 
 28 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 approaching and recognized the owner of the car, but 
 was gracefully waving him to halt. Her carriage 
 rolled up beside the big machine. 
 
 " Well, Robley Stuyverant ! " she said, as he raised 
 his cap. " I see you are in town after all perhaps 
 prepared to give me a few more trifling disappoint- 
 ments." 
 
 She was a beautiful woman, in a somewhat artificial 
 manner, despite a certain smallness of her features. 
 
 The man in the car attempted to smile. He was 
 still very white. " Really, Alice Mrs. Van Kirk," 
 he said, " I ought to be ashamed. I am indeed I 
 am. I thoroughly intended to come last Friday even- 
 ing, and I counted on to-night; but just a little bit 
 ago " 
 
 " Robley," interrupted Mrs. Van Kirk, meantime 
 gazing in rapt admiration on Thurley at the wheel, 
 " I really cannot consent to another excuse this even- 
 ing!" 
 
 " I've broken my wrist," he told her simply. " If it 
 weren't for the kindness of " He turned to Thur- 
 ley. " Mrs. Van Kirk, permit me to present my de- 
 liverer, Miss Miss Samaritan." He purposely mum- 
 bled the " Samaritan," in order to conceal his natural 
 confusion. 
 
 Thurley and Mrs. Van Kirk exchanged a conven- 
 tional murmur. 
 
 " Broken your wrist ! " said the latter in genuine 
 sympathy, but studying Thurley with penetrative eyes. 
 " Dear me ! That is simply ghastly ! I thought you 
 looked a bit peaked. Why, Robley, this is serious ! 
 I'm tremendously sorry. Isn't there something I can 
 do? If you'd rather I should drive you home "
 
 29 
 
 "Thanks, no," he interrupted blandly. "But I 
 trust my excuse is valid for to-night." 
 
 Mrs. Van Kirk hardly heard what he said, so intent 
 was her inspection of the girl at Stuyverant's side. 
 Never in her life, she felt, had she seen a young woman 
 more beautiful, more abounding in possibilities, more 
 desirable as an asset a magnet for a lifeless drawing 
 room. She was busily wondering who and what she 
 could be, what relationship she bore to Stuyverant, and 
 where he could possibly have found her. The party 
 of the evening had slipped from her mind for the mo- 
 ment. 
 
 "Your excuse?" she echoed. "Valid? Indeed it 
 is ! My poor dear boy, it's cruel of me to keep you 
 here waiting like this ! But at least you'll come to see 
 me? You don't walk on your wrist. Both of you 
 come do come soon ! You'll be out of it, Robley, 
 driving your car, riding everything. Do come and 
 let me supply a little pleasure. Good by. I'll expect 
 you soon." 
 
 She nodded and smiled at Thurley quite as much as 
 at Robley Stuyverant. Then once again her landau 
 rolled along to the jingling of silver on the trappings. 
 The car with Thurley at the wheel proceeded on its 
 way.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 TEMPTATION AND A CREST 
 
 STUYVERANT did not speak at once, and Thurley was 
 busy with her task. A few more carriages and several 
 cars, enticed thus quickly to the park by promise of the 
 sun, were met and passed. Still clinging to his broken 
 wrist, the man with Thurley watched her intently, more 
 and more engrossed by her beauty. 
 
 " You saw my embarrassment my predicament," 
 he said at length, referring to the 'recent introduction. 
 " Now that you are acquainted with mine, don't you 
 think I ought at least to know your name? " 
 
 " We are almost there Columbus Circle," she an- 
 swered, nodding toward the slender, graceful monument, 
 visible now beyond the trees. " In a moment you will 
 have a better driver. After that " She left the 
 sentence incomplete. 
 
 " After that ? " he repeated. " You will certainly 
 let me see you again, if only to thank you, to " 
 
 She glanced at him brightly. " Oh, but you have 
 thanked me already quite sufficiently. Where shall I 
 drive you now? " / 
 
 He suddenly felt that he could not permit her to go 
 so soon behold her vanish as strangely as she had 
 arrived, leaving him nothing save the memory of a 
 singularly delightful encounter. 
 
 " If you do not mind, perhaps I'd be wiser to go 
 30
 
 31 
 
 home at once," he told her tentatively. " If it takes 
 you too far from your own destination, the car is en- 
 tirely at your service." 
 
 She flushed with pleasure at the thought of prolong- 
 ing the joy already experienced, not only with the car, 
 but also with its owner. She felt herself greatly 
 tempted. It almost seemed as if the Fates had be- 
 stowed this opportunity upon her, this opening into the 
 wondrous world whose gates she was eagerly seeking. 
 
 It might be so easy to push a little forward here, 
 avail herself of this man's acquaintance, attempt to 
 meet and cultivate Mrs. Van Kirk, and forge toward the 
 gilded social goal ! But she dared not assume the risk. 
 They would find her out; she could not play the role; 
 it was not the path by which she had hoped to succeed. 
 As a matter of fact, she was unprepared for the develop- 
 ments the Fates had brought about, and could follow 
 her instinct only. 
 
 But to take this injured fellow being home that, 
 at least, was barely human. She asked him quietly: 
 
 "Where do you live? On the farther side of the 
 park? " 
 
 " Fifth Avenue," he answered, and told her the num- 
 ber and corner of the street. "Is it an imposition?" 
 he added. " Because of course " 
 
 " I'll drive you there," she interrupted. " I hope 
 there's a doctor near by." 
 
 " And then you'll let me send you home, of course? " 
 
 She flushed to the tips of her ears. Permit him thus 
 to discover the poor old tawdry place that was all she 
 could call her home? She would rather have walked to 
 the ends of the earth! She gave him the briefest of 
 glances.
 
 32 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " I shall ask you to have me returned to the park, to 
 the place where you found me, if you please." 
 
 "Oh, but " 
 
 " Is it very much to ask? " 
 
 " It's nothing, nothing, less than nothing ; but I 
 hoped I rather wished " It occurred to him sud- 
 denly that she might have alighted from a car or car- 
 riage of her own, to sit for a time in the park. She 
 might be missed by those who had left her with the 
 squirrels perhaps some man perhaps some princely 
 husband ! He wondered why he thought of a Prince 
 and glanced at her wedding finger, only to find her hand 
 was gloved. 
 
 " I wish to do anything to please you, to restore you 
 to your previous enjoyment of the day," he told her 
 honestly. " Are you sure that is all I may do? " 
 
 " Quite sure." 
 
 They were gliding swiftly through Fifty-ninth 
 Street. They came to the Plaza, with its huge hotels, 
 its dull gold equestrian statue of Sherman, and its tide 
 of carriages and automobiles going into and out of the 
 park. 
 
 Thurley turned the corner, entered Fifth Avenue, 
 steered out round one of the huge green autobusses, 
 and continued northward on her way. Stuyverant, 
 more worried by the thought of presently losing the 
 thrill of her presence at his side than he was by his 
 swollen wrist, could think of nothing to say or to do 
 that would penetrate the mystery of her personality. 
 He had never felt so baffled or so eager in his life. He 
 cudgeled his wits for a means for attaining his desire, 
 to know her and exact a promise she would permit him 
 to see her soon again; but all in vain. The impend-
 
 TEMPTATION AND A CREST S3 
 
 ing termination of their ride seemed rather to confuse 
 than to clear his senses. 
 
 " It does seem as if you might let me thank you, see 
 you and thank you properly, when I'm more like 
 myself," he suggested at last, as Thurley observed they 
 had only another block to travel. " In your own words, 
 is that so much for me to ask? " 
 
 " This is your street," said Thurley, once more color- 
 ing. " Up town or down town corner? " 
 
 " Up town," said Stuyverant reluctantly, and the 
 car was brought to a halt beside the curb. 
 
 He alighted, experiencing a new attack of weakness 
 and pain from his hurt. For the first time he noted the 
 dainty bit of handkerchief lying at Thurley's feet. 
 Then she too stepped out to the curb, to turn at once 
 to the tonneau, open its door, and seat herself therein. 
 
 " I hope you will get immediate relief," she said. 
 " Please do not delay any longer." 
 
 He fancied that some sense of embarrassment, to- 
 gether with impatience to return to her friends in the 
 park, was revealed by the look in her eyes. " I'll send 
 someone at once," he answered, loath to lose her from 
 his sight. " I trust we're not saying good by." 
 
 Thurley too regretted the passing of the hour 
 her one golden hour in many months. She smiled. 
 " Shall it be auf -unederselien? " 
 
 His left hand, supporting his broken wrist, aban- 
 doned its charge for a moment. He raised his cap, 
 enduring great pain in the effort. " Auf wiedersehen; 
 for we shall meet again," he said. " I believe in fate." 
 
 " Oh, your wrist ! " she exclaimed. " Please hurry 
 with your wrist." 
 
 He nodded, and smiled, whitely, once more support-
 
 34 THURJLEY RUXTON 
 
 * 
 
 ing his arm in his hand; then up the steps he ascended 
 as the door abruptly opened and a servant in livery 
 appeared. 
 
 Thurley watched him till he turned in the vestibule 
 and smiled again, wanly. Then the servant shut his 
 stoic suffering from sight. 
 
 Barely five minutes later another servitor appeared. 
 Saluting Thurley with a semimilitary gesture, he first 
 surreptitiously secured and pocketed the tiny lace 
 handkerchief lying near the wheelpost of the car, 
 all by special order, then assumed the seat so re- 
 cently occupied by Thurley herself and headed at once 
 for the park. 
 
 In the briefest seeming time they had come to the 
 spot where Stuyverant's accident occurred. Here the 
 man halted the auto and alighted to open the door. 
 
 " You are quite certain, Miss, I may not drive you 
 elsewhere may not be of further service? " 
 
 " Quite certain, thank you," answered Thurley, 
 already experiencing a certain sensation of loneliness 
 and depression, thus to face once more the desolation 
 of her life, and she stepped from the car with a regal 
 grace that made the man salute her as before. 
 
 He hesitated uncertainly for a moment; then, in 
 strict obedience to instructions, once more resumed his 
 seat and drove away. 
 
 Thurley sat down. She had nothing else to do, save 
 to wonder at what had transpired. Once again the 
 clouds obscured the sun, the gold and vermilion of the 
 foliage dulled, and the lights burned lower in her eyes. 
 She rose at last to walk from the park to the elevated 
 road, for a train that would carry her home. 
 
 Meantime, Stuyverant, racked with pain as his sur-
 
 TEMPTATION AND A CREST 35 
 
 geon set the broken bone in place, was all impatience 
 for his man's return with the car. That worthy arrived 
 with commendable promptness and sent up the filmy bit 
 of lace he felt he had shamefully stolen. 
 
 No sooner was the injured man alone than he shook 
 out the faintly perfumed gossamer and eagerly scanned 
 the tiny mark embroidered in one of its corners. 
 
 A sense of joy and a sense akin to hopelessness arose 
 in his being together. " A crest ! " he murmured 
 excitedly. " I knew it ! I felt it in the air ! "
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE GODS OF CHANGE 
 
 THE one particularly fateful element in Thurley's 
 unique adventure in the park was not entirely the effect 
 produced upon young Stuyverant ; it was quite as much 
 the meeting with Alice Van Kirk. 
 
 In addition to being the niece of Major John Phipps, 
 she was one of the wealthiest, uneasiest, and most 
 original women in all New York. She was likewise one 
 of the cleverest and shrewdest in gaining her ends. 
 Married, thirty-five, domiciled in a modern Fifth Ave- 
 nue palace, and consumed by social ambitions never yet 
 wholly gratified, she presented a study in restless enter- 
 prise not to be lightly ignored. 
 
 For one brief season she had flashed so brilliantly on 
 the rainbow peaks of social eminence as to dazzle the 
 most blase. Scores of the moths that flit to the blind- 
 ing glare of gold had molted their wings to remain 
 within the circle. Then had come envy, successful 
 rivalry, a species of defeat for her, and retirement from 
 the center of the stage. For two seasons she had 
 sought in vain for the magical wand that would place 
 again within her grasp the queenship she felt essential 
 to existence. 
 
 Van Kirk, who detested the " social cyclone," was 
 away to the north, scouring Canada, gun in hand, in- 
 tent upon moose. His wife, with the season once more 
 opening for lions and conquests in Gotham, had for 
 
 36
 
 THE GODS OF CHANGE 37 
 
 weeks been ready for anything socially desperate, and 
 had felt herself helplessly baffled. 
 
 A hundred times she had conned the old devices em- 
 ployed in all her set, and a hundred times had flung 
 them out as worthless for her needs. She was amply 
 aware that nothing short of something new and resist- 
 lessly magnetic, something gleamingly startling, could 
 avail to establish her anew. 
 
 To-day in the park the germ of a thought had sunk 
 to the tropics of her brain, there to sprout with prodig- 
 ious celerity and expand a luxuriant foliage. The 
 germ had been planted by the sight of Thurley Ruxton, 
 driving Stuyverant's car. With such a girl as that to 
 exploit, what ends might she not achieve? 
 
 Who in the world could the girl have been, and where 
 had Robley found her? That any young woman so 
 brilliantly, unartificially beautiful, and able, moreover, 
 to drive a car, could have entered the social constella- 
 tion without her knowledge was to Alice Van Kirk 
 a positive sting. She felt humiliated, excluded, reflect- 
 ing that the Stuyverants and others of their circle had, 
 as it were, kept her from knowledge that this exquisite 
 girl had dawned upon their world. 
 
 Arrived at her home, she took no time for removal 
 of furs or gloves, in her haste to employ the 'phone. 
 She called up the Stuyverant residence, and soon had 
 Robley on the wire. 
 
 " My poor dear boy," she purred in the mouthpiece 
 sympathetically, " I am positively worried about your 
 wrist! You've had it treated, of course?" 
 
 " Right as a trivet," answered Stuyverant cheerfully. 
 " Good of you to call me up, I'm sure. And, by the 
 way, Alice "
 
 38 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Robley, who is she, you lucky animal ? " inter- 
 rupted the woman impatiently. " You know in your 
 pain you merely mumbled her name." 
 
 " No, not in pain ; in desperation," he confessed, him- 
 self no less eager than Alice to discover Thurley's iden- 
 tity and devise some chance to meet her without delay. 
 " I'm glad you called me up. You may be the one 
 being on earth who can help me to find out who she is 
 and where I may encounter her again." 
 
 " Robley ! " said his sympathetic friend. " You 
 don't mean to astonish this incredulous wire with the 
 assertion that you don't know who she is? Why, my 
 boy but where " 
 
 " Hark en," he admonished. "You're aware that 
 Princess Thirvinia is here in America incog? " 
 
 " I am, of course ; but " 
 
 " It may not be she. I'm half hopeful, half afraid, 
 it is. She was all alone in the park when I had my 
 fall. She came to my aid with all the simplicity and 
 courage of royalty. I felt the indefinable air of some- 
 thing regal about her from the start. She would not 
 reveal the first little hint of who she was, and insisted 
 on being taken back where I had found her, by my 
 man." 
 
 " Why Robley Stuy " 
 
 " That isn't all. She dropped a little handkerchief 
 in the car. I I've got it now. Alice, the corner is 
 marked with a crest ! Now " 
 
 "How could it be Princess Thirvinia? Of course 
 she'd speak English perfectly; but her servants, her 
 retinue, her equipage, and all? " 
 
 "When we know she's here incognito?" he an- 
 swered. " How could she move about in the guise of a
 
 THE GODS OF CHANGE 39 
 
 plain American woman if retinues and royal coaches 
 tagged her all through the park? I can't be sure; but 
 if you had really seen her and read the descriptions of 
 the Princess " 
 
 " Good gracious ! I never thought of that ! Do 
 you fancy any woman would have overlooked her won- 
 derful eyes and brows, that gold of her hair, that color ? 
 Robley " 
 
 " Alice," he interrupted, " there isn't a single being 
 in the world with your cleverness to help me find her 
 out. Don't you see that I've got to find her now? A 
 man can't have the luck to break his wrist like that but 
 once in a lifetime. How will you manage to find her? " 
 
 " Heavens ! " answered Alice laughingly. " Exactly 
 as I'd pounce upon any needle in a haystack ! I'm dis- 
 appointed in you, Robley, to be candid. You've been 
 stupid, really, to permit her to escape like this." 
 
 " By George ! If I hadn't been wounded " 
 
 " You wouldn't have found her at all." 
 
 " Of course ; but " 
 
 " And you mean to say that when you were hurt she 
 came running to your assistance, alone?" 
 
 " In the pouring rain, with all her skysails her 
 umbrella set. I never felt so weak in my life. The 
 pain went straight down to my heels. She said I 
 needed help I did. She said she could drive and 
 she drove. There never was anything quite so superb 
 in the world as the way she drove the car between " 
 
 " You've got to come over to see me ! " Alice inter- 
 rupted. " Come to-morrow, sure. I can understand 
 that with your broken wrist you need even such poor 
 assistance as mine. I am really quite distressed about 
 your hand."
 
 40 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Distressed ! " he echoed over the wire. " Great 
 roaring ghosts ! What a rank affront to luck ! I'll be 
 over in the afternoon to-morrow; and please be pre- 
 pared with a little first aid to the " 
 
 " Second aid second-handed aid," she interrupted. 
 " Now go and rest. Good by." 
 
 She hung up the instrument, and the period, after- 
 ward known as her " three-day-fever," had begun. It 
 might with propriety have been termed an exasperation 
 on her part and a desperation on the part of Robley 
 Stuyverant. Both made prodigious but futile efforts 
 to rediscover Thurley, and the mystery of who and 
 what and where she was assumed new depth with every 
 hour. 
 
 Meantime, Thurley was plunged once more into the 
 hopelessly commonplace affairs of daily labor and 
 boarding house existence, her dream of an hour already 
 receding from her grasp over the ever present planes 
 of stern reality. 
 
 There were moments of almost savage regret in her 
 thoughts as she faced her grind, the barren outlook of 
 day succeeding day, and the mockery of social splendor 
 and achievement to be glimpsed and comprehended 
 from afar. Some vague, insistent sophistry of her 
 more unthinking self argued repeatedly that had she 
 only maneuvered more adroitly, played the cards sup- 
 plied her by that fickle visitor Opportunity more 
 shrewdly, she might already be scheduled for some ro- 
 mantic escape from the yoke she must otherwise bear. 
 
 She was not deceived. She was certain in her heart 
 of hearts that she had done the only possible thing in 
 refusing her name to Robley Stuyverant and retreating 
 from his ken unknown. And yet, to be snatched from
 
 THE GODS OF CHANGE 41 
 
 it all so soon, to be obliged to realize her own remote- 
 ness from the only sphere her nature craved, was 
 galling. 
 
 She had anger with her fate. There were moments 
 when, in her indignation at the slights put upon her by 
 Acton Gaillard in the spring, she felt entitled to revenge 
 on all his kind entitled to injure all creatures of his 
 ilk by the powers and arts and baits of love that had 
 swept her own happiness away. For she had suffered 
 much, during all this time alone in merciless Manhattan, 
 with recurrent dreams of the might-have-beens and in 
 contemplation of the ruins of castles one time built of 
 the stuff of summer clouds. 
 
 There was never a moment, however, when she 
 seriously thought of arranging even a second accidental 
 meeting with the man with the broken wrist. She had 
 taken no time to consider his personality; and he, aside 
 from his natural sense of gratitude for the little she 
 had done, had been too much in pain, she was sure, to 
 observe her with attention. Yet she tugged at her 
 fetters and assailed the Major's work as if it had 
 been a foe. 
 
 Wednesday afternoon the tantalizing Fates took 
 another unexpected step, and Thurley, unaware, was 
 confronting the gate in the wall, the gate to the modern 
 Eden. The Major it was who prodded the gods of 
 Change, with no such intention in his mind. 
 
 He had been to the stronghold of a publisher who the 
 day before had received the first half of the volume on 
 which he was working. He came to Alice Van Kirk's 
 like a boy, unable to compass his delight. He had come 
 to the gorgeous, empty house to dine, ostensibly. His 
 appetite, however, was for talk.
 
 42 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice was alone, except for the presence of the four- 
 teen servants in the house, and she had never in her 
 life been more heartily glad to give him welcome. 
 
 " By Pollux ! My dear," he said as he kissed her 
 with genuine warmth of affection, " I've never been so 
 happy since Antietam! Never! The book is a hit 
 with my publishers, bullseye, straight and clean, 
 and the title changed to * Personal Recollections of 
 Seventeen Engagements in the Civil War ! ' I'm the 
 luckiest old curmudgeon in the country! I am, by 
 George! Unbelievable luck! All that young woman's 
 doing order out of chaos my raw recruits of fact 
 in line all ready for dress parade or charge recol- 
 lections all wheeled into battalions like magic the 
 second half is practically finished. As an author I feel 
 I begin to auth with that young woman's assistance ! 
 I had to run right up and tell you." 
 
 " You are very kind," said Alice calmly. " It's a 
 pity the pattern of your young woman paragon had 
 not been more generously employed. If only they were 
 made beautiful, regal, and discoverable more often, the 
 rest of us might almost approximate a toleration of 
 existence." 
 
 " Pessimism, my dear, pessimism ! " answered the Ma- 
 jor heartily. " The world is full of beautiful women. 
 This exotic of mine exotic, that's the proper de- 
 scription is extraordinary. She is, by Pollux. 
 Gifted, alert, sensible too sensible to know how abso- 
 lutely beautiful she is, even with all my force so dead 
 in love with her they work like the bees about their 
 queen ! She's the finest product of the feminine gender 
 I've seen outside of outside of this room, by Pollux." 
 
 "Admirable retreat, with guns intact," commented
 
 THE GODS OF CHANGE 43 
 
 Alice dryly. " Is she blond or brunette? I've forgot- 
 ten which you preferred a month ago." 
 
 " There you are, by George ! " replied the Ma j or 
 triumphantly. " She's neither both well, golden 
 hair, I admit real, you know real magnificent 
 
 no bleach, by Pollux ! none and the darkest brows 
 
 no penciling, I'll swear it at the cannon's mouth ! 
 
 and eyes as brown as a seal. No chance to paint or 
 peroxid eyes, you'll admit you're bound to admit. 
 And there you are ! I've a notion to write another book 
 to keep her near. Beautiful ! My dear, if I were only 
 young " 
 
 " Cease firing," she interrupted with awakening in- 
 terest. "Are you sure of what you are describing? 
 Remember, this is not the eighteenth engagement in the 
 Civil War, and I want the facts. Do you repeat blond 
 hair, brown eyes, and brows nearly black, her complex- 
 ion rose and white? " 
 
 " I hadn't come to her complexion ; but, by George ! 
 it is it is; roses that's it roses, white ones 
 and red. How in the world I ever got her to come " 
 
 " Exactly," his niece interrupted. " Where and how 
 did you get her? Who is the girl? It's the one you 
 have mentioned before? " 
 
 The Major sat down. " Repeatedly. Told you 
 about her way last June. Mentioned her frequently 
 at Newport always with enthusiasm too maybe 
 with ardor probably with ardor. Tell you all I 
 know about her wonderful young woman ! " 
 
 With commendable optimism and some perspicacity 
 of statement he proceeded at once to enlighten his niece 
 as fully as his information permitted as to who and 
 what Miss Thurley Ruxton was and of how he had come
 
 44 THTJRLEY RUXTON 
 
 to employ her. He made scant mention of the apparent 
 relationship she had enjoyed with Acton Gaillard; but 
 admitted he had met her frequently in Gaillard's com- 
 pany had accepted her socially, in fact, on Gaillard's 
 indorsement and had asked her nothing at all con- 
 cerning her antecedents, having always been far more 
 interested in the phases of her cleverness, her beauty, 
 and her remarkable popularity. 
 
 Alice listened to all his recital with an interest 
 peculiarly intent. " Why don't you bring her up and 
 let me see the girl? " she presently demanded. " But 
 no, on the whole, I think I shall call at your office, to- 
 morrow afternoon." 
 
 A servant appeared and announced the dinner 
 served.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 A CINDERELLA PROPOSITION 
 
 WHEN Thurley, complying with the Major's request, 
 stepped briskly into his " army headquarters " to find 
 herself confronted by the tall, gray-eyed woman from 
 the palace on Fifth Avenue, she was merely a trifle 
 surprised. 
 
 There was no recognition in the fleeting glance with 
 which she met the scrutiny that Alice bent upon her. 
 
 " Ah, here we are, by Pollux, yes! " said the Major 
 in his mildest artillery utterance. " Alice er, permit 
 me to present Miss Thurley Ruxton. Yes! Miss 
 Ruxton, my niece, Mrs. Van Kirk interested 
 wished to meet you have a little chat. I'll leave you 
 here together." 
 
 He disappeared and closed the door as Thurley 
 turned to gaze inquiringly at the visitor, whose name 
 she would never forget. 
 
 Alice met her astonished look with an arch and 
 radiant smile. Not only had she instantly recognized 
 the girl who had driven Stuyverant's car, but also with 
 equal promptness had her mind conceived an extraor- 
 dinary plan. " Miss Ruxton," she said, advancing 
 with outstretched hand, " I am exceedingly glad to 
 meet you again. You hardly knew me for a mo- 
 ment." 
 
 Thurley took the proffered hand almost mechanically. 
 
 45
 
 46 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 She flushed with color which instantly heightened her 
 beauty as she wondered what the meeting might imply. 
 "I I remember now," she faltered, perhaps a trifle 
 embarrassed by the thought of thus being discovered, 
 revealed in her real capacity and personality. " Our 
 meeting before was " 
 
 " Quite informal," Alice interrupted ; " but altogether 
 delightful, nevertheless that is, for me. Frankly, 
 Miss Ruxton, I've been hoping to find you ever since. 
 Won't you sit down for a little friendly talk ? " 
 
 Thurley followed to the corner where the older 
 woman led ; but was halted in the act of turning a chair 
 about to face her visitor. 
 
 " Sit here on the davenport with me," said Alice en- 
 gagingly. " I might as well tell you that I like you, 
 at once, and have it over. I've really come back to 
 make a proposition." 
 
 Thurley smiled, she hardly knew why. Her cus- 
 tomary ease of manner returned with the smile as she 
 took the seat denoted. 
 
 " I am not in the least a literary person, if it's any- 
 thing more on books." She knew intuitively it was not 
 concerning books that Alice Van Kirk had appeared. 
 Vaguely she wondered what this woman of the world 
 imagined concerning herself and Robley Stuyverant, 
 she a mere amanuensis, he the probable scion of an old 
 and wealthy family, and the pair of them seen in his 
 automobile, returning from who might say where? 
 An aspect of dread, the dread of being possibly misun- 
 derstood, assailed her unexpectedly. It had never even 
 occurred to her mind before. 
 
 " Oh, books ! '* said Alice with an eloquent gesture of 
 deprecation. " Do I look like that in the least? "
 
 A CINDERELLA PROPOSITION 47 
 
 Thurley smiled. " That sort of genius sometimes 
 runs in families." 
 
 " Infests them, you mean, my dear; but the Major is 
 only my uncle. Let's be perfectly candid, you and I. 
 First, I may as well confess I know all about your meet- 
 ing with Robley Stuyverant last Saturday afternoon. 
 He told me, of course. He doesn't know who you are 
 in the least, thanks to your innate ladyhood. I can 
 also readily understand that you hardly wish him to 
 discover." 
 
 Thurley flushed anew. " Not because of any- 
 thing " 
 
 " Dear child, can't you trust me to understand? 
 And no less than yourself I prefer he should not 
 know." 
 
 Thurley was thoroughly puzzled. Her natural won- 
 der was what Robley Stuyverant could possibly be to 
 Alice Van Kirk, and why she should come here to-day. 
 She could only echo, " You prefer he should not know? " 
 
 " Exactly. Now comes my proposition. I want you 
 to come to my house live with me become my pro- 
 tegee and meet him and all my friends on a social 
 equality immediately at least by the end of the 
 week." 
 
 Thurley could scarcely credit her senses. " But 
 Mrs. Van Kirk " 
 
 " I know you don't understand it, of course, nat- 
 urally, why I should wish it, what possible advan- 
 tage I hope to derive from such an arrangement, but 
 I told you I meant to be frank." She paused to lean 
 forward and take the girl's soft hand in her own. " I 
 need you very much indeed, and I rather hope you need 
 me. Before you say anything at all, I wish to assure
 
 48 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 you there will be no dubious conditions, no string to 
 the offer I am making. Candidly, I require a magnet, 
 such a magnet as all the gold in the world may never 
 be, a living, radiant magnet, to brighten my home, 
 to draw success and interest about me, such a mag- 
 net as you, my dear, would supply. I shall wish to 
 treat you precisely as I might a younger sister, just 
 come out, and would exact only a promise that, no 
 matter what might be conjectured as to whence you 
 came, you divulge nothing to the world, assert noth- 
 ing, deny nothing, and agree not to marry, or to 
 promise yourself in marriage, for at least a year from 
 our association." 
 
 More and more Thurley's bewilderment increased. 
 " But I can't in the least understand your motive," she 
 confessed. " What could I possibly do that would 
 repay you for your venture ? " 
 
 "Dear child, you can wear gorgeous jewels, furs, 
 and gowns like a Princess. You can go with me every- 
 where, help me entertain, fill my hollow house with the 
 people I wish to attract, give me the things I most 
 desire and better your fortunes by the process." 
 
 Thurley shook her head gravely. " I don't see why 
 you think so, Mrs. Van Kirk. I have never had that 
 sort of education." 
 
 " But you have always been popular? " 
 
 " A little with the college boys, I suppose. I 
 hoped so thought so, once." 
 
 " I was certain of that from the first," said Alice 
 decisively. " My dear, that is all I desire." 
 
 Thurley looked at her quickly, a light of girlish in- 
 quiry burning in her eyes. " Do you mean you would 
 wish me to attract a lot of men? "
 
 A CINDERELLA PROPOSITION 49 
 
 " Men, of course, men and women of the social set 
 that once paid me tribute slavishly, and now well, 
 things are different now. I am no longer novel, I sup- 
 pose. Perhaps I am too respectable. But you could 
 help me bring them back oh, all of it nicely, my dear, 
 nothing dubious. I said before, and I repeat, I wish 
 you to occupy just such a place as I'd give to a younger 
 sister of whom I could always be proud and fond. 
 Doesn't that clear away your doubts? Heavens! I 
 hadn't the slightest thought that I might be misunder- 
 stood!" 
 
 Thurley burned a warmer color. " But you can 
 see how strange it seems to me? " 
 
 " Why, yes, child, I see it perfectly. That's why 
 I'm going to ask you to think it over first. I asked 
 the Major to bring you home to dine with me to-night ; 
 but perhaps you'd rather go in the car with me. Only 
 he might tell you all about me as he told me a little 
 of you. I want you to know there is nothing sinister 
 behind my offer, nothing you may not accept with 
 pride and honor. There are elements of business in it, 
 of course; for I expect you to make my existence much 
 more happy, as I should hope to make yours more 
 bright and promising. That's all. I am dying 
 to make the fairylike transformation on a girl al- 
 ready lovely and surely you are not without am- 
 bition ! " 
 
 Thurley smiled. " It is a fairy story, isn't it 
 the way it comes, and all ? It sounds too good for 
 
 New York city, shall I say ? And coming like this 
 
 to me " 
 
 " Fate, my dear, believe me. How, otherwise, should 
 you happen to be sitting in the park when Robley
 
 50 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Stujverant comes along and breaks his big, strong 
 wrist? " 
 
 Thurley colored an exquisite tint. " I hope his 
 wrist is better I mean it was really terrible." 
 
 Alice arched her brows. " He called the incident a 
 * favor of the gods.' He is nearly insane to meet his 
 Princess again." 
 
 The red fairly surged to Thurley's cheeks at this, 
 and down all her ivory neck. " You he I'd be 
 expected to meet him, as you said? " 
 
 " Naturally. His enthusiasm, I confess, incubated 
 my resolve to find you if I could. But don't forget 
 what I named as my conditions. I couldn't permit you 
 to engage yourself for a year, not even to Robley, af- 
 ter all that romantic meeting. You see, I am very 
 scheming, after all." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 Alice rose. " Will you come to-night with the Ma- 
 jor, or with me? " 
 
 Thurley's excitement returned. " Did I promise to 
 come? " 
 
 " To look us over, certainly. Wear anything you 
 like, my dear. We three shall be alone." She held out 
 her hand as before, and smiled with a charm of her own 
 that Thurley knew was honest. " You can think 
 things over rapidly, from all I learn of your character. 
 Perhaps you can give me your answer to-night." 
 
 Thurley's smile was a trifle timid. " Perhaps." 
 
 The older woman quietly took her other hand. 
 There was something wistful in the look she bestowed 
 on the eyes so deeply brown. " If you make up your 
 mind to come, you'll call me Alice? " 
 
 " If I come."
 
 A CINDERELLA PROPOSITION 51 
 
 Alice gave added pressure to her hands. " I think 
 you'll be a little more comfortable if you come with the 
 Major," she concluded. "We'll consider that ar- 
 ranged. Till then, my dear, good by." 
 
 " Good by," said Thurley, and followed to the door. 
 
 Alice turned and kissed her suddenly. " There ! I 
 simply couldn't help it ! " she laughed, her own face 
 flushing girlishly. " I know we are going to be 
 friends." 
 
 Then she went, and Thurley stood there marveling, 
 a thrill subtly creeping to her heart.
 
 WANTED, A DISCOVEEY 
 
 THE transformation was complete, the most absolute, 
 magical transformation one could possibly imagine. 
 And still Thurley hardly believed it had come for more 
 than one midnight hour. It seemed impossible for such 
 a dream to assume substantiality. Its vanishment, like 
 Cinderella's coach and steeds, would have seemed the 
 natural incident when twelve solemn strokes should 
 sound from some darkened tower. 
 
 That first exciting dinner with Alice and the Major 
 was already two days old, its impression embossed on 
 Thurley's malleable mind as a bas-relief uplifted from 
 her former plane of existence. But to-night this 
 first real occupancy of her wondrous cocoon from 
 which she was destined to emerge into new and startling 
 loveliness this was too magical for credence ! 
 
 Alice herself had brought her to the suite of rooms 
 henceforth to be sacred to her uses. Alice herself had 
 appointed two smart, deferential maids to attend her 
 slightest needs. Her old world had slunk away like 
 smoky fog, old labors, old apartments, old gowns, 
 and hats and shoes. There was nothing left to suggest 
 her past attachments, save two or three trinkets of gold 
 and her mother's diamond ring. 
 
 She stood at last alone with her thoughts, robed in 
 a faintly shimmering gossamer of night apparel, de- 
 lightedly regarding her " home." Her maids had pre- 
 59
 
 WANTED, A DISCOVERY 53 
 
 pared her for retirement and left her in possession, 
 mistress of her warmly glowing kingdom. 
 
 Yet she dared not and could not experience a sense 
 of ownership either in the walls and furnishings or in 
 all the dainty finery, exquisite gowns, the costly furs 
 and sparkling gems, already secured and bestowed 
 upon her as the " mere first requisites of her wardrobe," 
 new purchases which Alice had assured her were soon 
 to be supplemented properly, when modistes, tailors, 
 and others of their ilk should have time to prepare 
 things to order. 
 
 A feeling of strangeness pervaded the thrills she un- 
 derwent as she once more explored her gilded bower by 
 herself. From the splendid spaciousness and delicate 
 perfections of her drawing room, through her lofty 
 blue and gold chamber and her wholly enchanting 
 dressing room, to the fairy grotto of a bath and back, 
 she moved with the lingering appreciation of a Princess 
 who, after long banishment, is once more restored to 
 her own. She opened the wardrobes one by one and 
 gazed at their treasures in joy. The jewels that 
 gleamed from her golden casket were reflected bril- 
 liantly in the rapture of her eyes. 
 
 All her old dreams of the conquest of Manhattan had 
 contained no such element as this. It had faded like 
 a tawdry thing in the light of this dazzling reality. 
 All the old resentments felt against Acton Gaillard and 
 his sort, together with desire for swift retaliation, had 
 gone with the grimy fog of former days. Exultation 
 and pure girlish ecstasy, with love of all the lovelier 
 phases of existence, possessed and thrilled her being. 
 It was hers, this world of beauty. 
 
 Perhaps for an hour she moved about the place, now
 
 54 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 sitting in a thronelike chair, now merely standing in 
 the center of a room to contemplate its charms. At 
 last she pushed a button in the paneled wall, and the 
 soft rose lights of her fairyland faded in their crystal 
 spheres. 
 
 A mellowed twilight crept through the windows 
 westward, where they overlooked Fifth Avenue. She 
 went there happily, and by habit ran up the shades. 
 Below, the pavement dully reflected the scattered lights 
 widely dotting out the long perspective. A hansom 
 went by, the horse's hoofs musically clop-clopping as 
 he trotted briskly toward the Plaza. 
 
 Across the way loomed the wall and the half-de- 
 nuded trees of Central Park. Here and there a star- 
 like lamp glowed steadily between dark masses of foli- 
 age, increasing the sense of peace. The sky was clear, 
 and the constellations swung brilliantly across the 
 firmament, lustrous with cosmic magnificence. 
 
 But Thurley's eyes beheld again a man falling for- 
 ward in the rain. She saw him presently seated by her 
 side, and the pulse of a mighty motor shook her being. 
 She wondered and she wondered. At last, with a 
 sigh of new-found rapture, she returned to the wholly 
 intoxicating luxury of her couch. What a pity it 
 seemed to waste a moment of a world so marvelous in 
 sleep's effacing oblivion ! 
 
 Yet when she awakened by the morning light, the 
 wonder was fresher than before. She had barely en- 
 tered the hallway of miracles to which, in the way of 
 her kind, she would presently grow amazingly accus- 
 tomed. 
 
 Nevertheless, for the two or three days next succeed- 
 ing her emotions of bewilderment increased. Neither
 
 WANTED, A DISCOVERY 55 
 
 her mind nor her nature could grasp the full signifi- 
 cance of Alice Van Kirk's prodigious wealth. She 
 could not behold the prodigality of spending upon her- 
 self and avoid feeling staggered and appalled. 
 
 Alice induced her gently, with skill and finesse of the 
 utmost art, toward the nonchalance, poise, and deport- 
 ment of those long accustomed to the favors of the 
 gods. Her pupil was apt and pliant. Her natural 
 grace, plus her exceptional powers of observation and 
 intuition, rendered Thurley instantly amenable to the 
 slightest desires and pressures of the woman now mold- 
 ing her anew. 
 
 That certain regal essence of her being, naturally 
 inherent, flowered in exquisite charm. Graciousness 
 claimed her for its own. Her beauty was heightened 
 and refined. Over coachmen and footmen who were as- 
 signed with her own particular carriages to her needs 
 she assumed a monarchical proprietorship that de- 
 lighted their very souls. 
 
 By every possible device of modesty and retirement, 
 Alice conducted this schooling of her Princess, as it 
 were, behind the scenes. Not even Robley Stuyverant 
 was aware of his abetter's find. He had fretted, 
 stormed, implored the Fates and Alice, and run amuck 
 through drawing rooms and the first of the season's 
 functions, without, of course, so much as encountering 
 a single person who had ever seen or heard of the girl 
 he sought. 
 
 Meantime, rumors that a Princess of extraordinary 
 beauty, wealth and cleverness was actually adrift, in- 
 cognito, in America, had been credited with truth, de- 
 spite the fact that all eager swelldom had vainly sought 
 to find her out from somewhat vague descriptions.
 
 56 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 She was said to be blond and brunette together, head- 
 strong, entirely cosmopolitan, weary of Europe, in- 
 clined toward an American alliance, and the promised 
 guest of some woman once met abroad. 
 
 To Alice Van Kirk these stories came, and met ex- 
 ceptionally cordial hospitality. Such excitement as 
 her nature and spirit permitted increased in her being 
 every hour. At the end of a week of Thurley's tuition 
 the well-known Van Kirk impatience chafed, no longer, 
 however, at the mere delay in presenting of her pro- 
 tegee, but instead at her own fastidiousness of choice 
 in means whereby to promote the impending discovery 
 to best advantage. 
 
 The Horse Show was a week away, the opera nearly 
 two. Before the former and the Metropolitan opening, 
 Thurley should already be heralded or much valued 
 time would be lost. A veritable triumph at Madison 
 Square was the premiere of Alice's demands of the sit- 
 uation, such power would the victory bestow. 
 
 She dared not jeopardize a structure built upon the 
 frailty of this new experiment by undue haste, unwis- 
 dom, or self-started claims concerning Thurley. The 
 cleverness of her intentions was worthy of her well- 
 known ingenuity and clarity of vision. Hence the 
 worry that possessed her day and night as she pum- 
 meled her wits to meet the crucial moment and event of 
 launching Thurley forth upon a social startled world 
 that would think it instantly pierced her identity for it- 
 self. 
 
 She thought and planned till she was nearly ill. In 
 vain ! Some hazy scheme of inviting Robley Stuy- 
 verant to a motor ride in the park and picking Thur- 
 ley up at the spot where the young man's wrist had
 
 WANTED, A DISCOVERY 57 
 
 been broken, was the nearest approach she could possi- 
 bly invent by way of something " accidental." It met 
 her requirements in romanticism, even perhaps too well. 
 It lacked, however, in its powers for publicity. She 
 dismissed it with the rest. 
 
 Saturday morning arrived, 'a day more brilliant than 
 the sunniest hour of the day when Robley broke his 
 wrist. Alice awoke in a fever, induced by tossing in 
 sleeplessness as she thought of the problem she must 
 meet. 
 
 There was no further time to be lost and nothing 
 had come to her assistance. Then Thurley, plus her 
 helpful fate, brought it all to crystallization un- 
 guessed by Alice at the time. 
 
 " Oh, Alice," she said at breakfast, " what a gor- 
 geous day! Couldn't we order the horses for a gallop 
 in the park? " 
 
 Alice avidly welcomed the suggestion. " Why, yes, 
 by all means, Thurley, order yours for this afternoon. 
 I ride like a cat on skates, you know; but I'd rather 
 you went than not." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Thurley. " I hoped we might go to- 
 gether." 
 
 Alice smiled at her archly. " Even though you 
 might perchance meet a motorist, disabled and forlorn? 
 Fiddlesticks ! Order your horse for three, and James 
 to trail behind."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 
 
 MORE furiously than ever before had James trailed that 
 afternoon. Never had a day been finer, the assem- 
 blage of carriages and riders in the park more brilliant, 
 or Thurley more alive with the effervescence of youth 
 and the fire of joy. 
 
 Her horse, a superb Arabian, glossy as the sun itself, 
 and darkly red as the richest autumn foliage, was ig- 
 nited by her spirit. He pranced, cavorted, arched his 
 neck, in pride of the dainty mistress on his back, and 
 ached for a chance to let out his powers for once and 
 prove himself worthy of her love. 
 
 Already she loved him in a riotous mood that ex- 
 tended to the ruddy world in its regal splendors of color. 
 Not since a day in the faraway spring had she been 
 thus enthroned in a saddle. Her spirit vaulted tem- 
 pestuously, ahead of the galloping steed. She gloried 
 in the rush and motion, the exhilarating air with its 
 touch of frost hurled upon her by her cleaving through 
 to new-found avenues of pleasure. 
 
 She rode like a splendid young valkyr, welded by 
 skill and sheer abandon into wondrous unity with the 
 animal excited and delighted by her weight. It was 
 only wild riding in the sense of its utter freedom, 
 beauty, and spontaneity. It was rhythm and spirit 
 and courage, exemplified in her absolute confidence and 
 passion for living and motion. 
 
 She dashed through one of the bridle paths that par- 
 
 58
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 59 
 
 allel a drive, like a vision of velocity and beauty. 
 From a hundred glinting carriages, flinging back the 
 sun rays from varnish, silver, and burnished animals, a 
 wondering procession of wealth's spoiled darlings paid 
 her the tribute of their stares, their gasps, curiosity, 
 and admiration, some for the marvel of her coloring 
 and grace, the proud, handsome face, exquisitely regal, 
 some for such horsemanship as the park had rarely 
 seen, and some for her daring and apparent reckless- 
 ness, the men and women drifting by on the tide of 
 luxury and ease were magnetized despite themselves, 
 while Thurley was completely unaware. 
 
 She raced from their sight like a fragment from an 
 epic of rapture. Her joy in her Amazonion liberty 
 and flight was a thing to be felt by all who saw, so 
 potent were its radiant emanations. Round the bend, 
 with James in desperation spurring at the rear, she en- 
 countered a party of equestrians, men and women, 
 posting along like a dozen conventional automatons 
 invented for mechanical riding. With one accord they 
 turned to watch her pass. Beyond them she ap- 
 proached and overtook three women, riding in a group. 
 
 The farther she rode the sweeter grew the breath 
 that swept from the autumn perfumed trees and the 
 wilder became the answer of her spirit. It seemed like 
 a ride through amber, gold, and flame. Every vista 
 looming ahead in her path seemed a red-lit glow of wel- 
 come. Then the way once more drew in abreast a 
 drive, where again the pageantry of wealth rolled lan- 
 guorously by. 
 
 Broughams, coupes, glinting automobiles, hansoms, 
 barouches, and children's phaetons, decorously winding 
 the highways of indulgence, and flinging off their lar-
 
 60 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 gess of light from a thousand flashing spokes, moved 
 in two opposing streams. Again, as before, the homage 
 of their seldom-stirred attention was paid to Thurley, 
 romping past. A hundred scions of the house of ease 
 inquired who she was. 
 
 Then, from one of the carriages, occupied solely by 
 one old woman and a broad, athletic young man, came 
 a note of surprise and gladness which started as if to 
 become a shout and ended much suppressed. The 
 eager young man half rose in his seat, showing his arm 
 in a sling. 
 
 It was Robley Stuyverant, once more desperately 
 hoping for the vision of a face which at last he had 
 seen once again. He saw her skimming lightly by, 
 with never a turn of her head, her thoroughbred a-tin- 
 gle in his glad response to the beating and wish of her 
 heart. He wanted to cry out mightily, to turn and 
 pursue, to halt her somewhere anywhere for a 
 moment of looking in her eyes. 
 
 She was gone almost before his thoughts could ar- 
 range themselves in order. Stifling an utterance akin 
 to a groan, he sank once more on the cushions, and in- 
 stantly recovered sufficient of his natural acumen to 
 gaze out again for Thurley's attendant. 
 
 " Great roaring ghosts ! " he exclaimed aloud as 
 James went feverishly past. He had recognized Alice's 
 man. 
 
 A mad, unreasoning impulse to escape his present 
 obligations with the quiet old woman at his side and 
 hasten pellmell to the Van Kirk mansion was the initial 
 suggestion in his brain. Then he knew that no one 
 would be found at home, and could only hope that 
 Thurley might cross his orbit again. 
 
 It seemed likely that she would cross every orbit in
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 61 
 
 the world. While for herself it was merely the wine of 
 unbridled delight that increased in her nature as she 
 rode, with the horse it was madness that was growing. 
 He too was aflame with the love of speed, the tang of 
 nude nature in the air, the urging of joy-heated blood. 
 She slowed him at the crossing of a pedestrians' path, 
 and he quivered with impatience to be off again, to de- 
 light alike the kindred spirit on his back and the riot 
 in his veins. 
 
 She lifted the reins, and he was swiftly galloping, 
 dipping to earth like a swallow. They were headed 
 south. The park's length northward as far as the 
 riding pathway went, and the width of it westward, had 
 been rapidly traversed. They would be obliged to make 
 its round a half-dozen times to satisfy Thurley's craving 
 for the joy. 
 
 The graveled way swung close to the side of the west- 
 ern drive, where only a few of the chariots of wealth 
 and fashion paraded. A number of rapidly moving 
 automobiles were here, almost entirely in possession of 
 the road. It was near the spot where Robley Stuy- 
 verant had fallen in the rain, and Thurley had been 
 launched by kindly Fates. 
 
 A racing car came swiftly down the stretch, its reck- 
 less driver willfully and wantonly shattering the most 
 liberal of the speed regulations. Abreast of Thurley's 
 Arabian, already strung to the highest nervous ten- 
 sion, the fellow suddenly opened his muffler cutout, and 
 his great motor roared with deafening percussions. 
 
 Instantly bolting, after one wild leap aside, the ani- 
 mal under Thurley flattened oddly down above the 
 earth, already streaming grayly away beneath him, and 
 ran with all his might. 
 
 His speed was terrific, not in the motion, which
 
 62 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 had steadied to a strangely easy undulation, but be- 
 cause of the bite of impinging air, the dizzying chaos 
 of trees and park features stampeding by in confu- 
 sion, and the sense of lost mastery, lodged in the girl's 
 delighted being but a moment earlier. 
 
 She knew she was helpless to control the passion of 
 the thoroughbred, whose bone and sinew and fiery 
 blood had burned for this moment of delirium. She 
 was not alarmed. The sensation engendered by the 
 madness of speed aroused a new sort of pleasure, a wel- 
 coming to recklessness, almost a wish for still more ve- 
 locity forward. She knew she could not ride like this 
 for long without gravest dangers. They were danger- 
 ous alike to herself and to everything near her. 
 
 She gathered the reins more closely in and applied 
 all the strength of her fine young arms to break his 
 mad flight with the bit. But the bar of steel was 
 clamped in his teeth, where resistance only whetted him 
 the more. 
 
 A shout went up from someone in the road. It 
 swept to the rear like a wail. Ahead was a turn of the 
 bridle path, and beyond it she knew not what. 
 More yells and shouts came weirdly through the air 
 that was storming roaringly by. The horse re- 
 sponded, if possible, with added speed. 
 
 Rocks, a bridge, a group of people walking, who 
 barely reeled back from the animal's course in time to 
 escape his flying hoofs, made a series of blurs in 
 the panoramic rush that the path's two sides had 
 become. 
 
 Pale with the chill of biting air and likewise with her 
 cool comprehension of the menace of every movement, 
 Thurley felt the inward lean as the flight-crazed
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 63 
 
 Arabian took the curve and plunged on in something 
 akin to panic rapidly succeeding all things else that 
 might have been present in his nature before. Then 
 her heart turned over like a helpless bell swung too far 
 out for its balance. The road was almost wholly occu- 
 pied by ten or more riders, women and men, walking 
 their mounts in the same direction she was racing! 
 
 She could not cry out a warning. In a blinding 
 conviction of disaster, she could only tug with sturdier 
 might at the reins, already tight as fiddlestrings, and 
 hope to steer for a foot-wide space between the nearest 
 riders. 
 
 But someone screamed, some woman, sitting on an 
 iron bench that overlooked the scene. In utter fright 
 the riders scattered right and left to let the comet 
 through. Then two of the men, well mounted and 
 cool, spurred hotly in pursuit. They were joined a 
 hundred yards below by a mounted policeman, who 
 swung forth, already at speed, before Thurley had won 
 to his post. 
 
 He and the men from the pleasure group fell behind 
 with the trees and rocks and wind as the thoroughbred 
 warmed to his work. 
 
 By then the cries from a score of throats had 
 alarmed the park for a mile. The fright and excite- 
 ment increased apace, as four mad riders hurtled on, 
 Thurley white and rigid in the lead. 
 
 James had been hopelessly outdistanced in the first 
 few hundred yards. Hoofbeat and screams that 
 pierced the air sounded mad warnings down the course. 
 The bridle path dived beneath a bridge that spanned 
 the western drive of fashion. A hundred frightened 
 women saw the runaway dynamic of power flashing his
 
 64 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 muscles like engine parts in the sunlight's streaming 
 rays, with the stiff, upright figure of the white-faced 
 girl unflinchingly applying strength and nerve and 
 courage to the task of subduing his madness. 
 
 A second and third of the mounted police whipped 
 into the vortex at the curve that swung on the path- 
 way's eastward trend. Over, across to a dangerous 
 junction of riders' path and driveway, shot the eager 
 horse, intent upon besting the animals in pursuit. But 
 past the policemen and past his companion crept one 
 of the men from the group in the rear, slowly but 
 steadily gaining on the hard-breathing bay that Thur- 
 ley guided. 
 
 And she, in the meantime, finally provoked into new 
 resolve to snatch back the mastery tautly held before, 
 lost patience with the senseless horse and with it all 
 comprehension of her danger. 
 
 " Boy," she said, " behave yourself. You ought to 
 be ashamed." 
 
 Abruptly loosing both the reins, she gave a sudden, 
 powerful jerk at the right one, wrapped about her 
 hand. Instantly sawing no less stoutly at the other, 
 she felt the bit give back to its place against the ten- 
 der portion of the creature's jaw, which was then sub- 
 jected to the splendid strength that the moment lent 
 to her arms and body. 
 
 She was sawing him back to another thought than 
 that of wild stampede, with impatience that bled him 
 at the mouth, as they dashed less swiftly toward the 
 junction. More cries ahead were mingled with the 
 distant shouting at the rear. The driveway of fashion 
 began to clog with vehicles, halted in confusion- and 
 affright.
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 65 
 
 Then up from the rear shot the rider who had 
 headed all but Thurley's thoroughbred. He too rode 
 superbly, and was mounted on a powerful black, a blue 
 grass product of the racing blood, without a peer in 
 the city. 
 
 Nevertheless, when the rider's hand projected for- 
 ward at the last and clutched Thurley's horse by the 
 bit, she had already calmed his raging fire and had 
 pulled him down to sidewise locomotion. 
 
 The group swung sharply inward to the left, and 
 Thurley's bay, resentful of the needless interference, 
 flung outward again to the right. The saddle, loos- 
 ened by the strain and pressure of the race, turned 
 from the change of Thurley's momentum and threw 
 her easily off on her side in the gravel. 
 
 She was neither bruised nor scratched; but groans 
 and cries arose from the breathless audience in the 
 halted procession on the drive. Policemen and the 
 others, distanced in the mad pursuit, rode hotly to the 
 scene, even as Thurley sprang to her feet and took her 
 horse in hand. 
 
 The only man who had ridden with sufficient speed 
 to be in at the crucial moment had dismounted. He 
 was young, smooth shaven, and ruddy. He had 
 snatched off his cap and was soberly regarding the 
 wondrous surge of color returning to Thurley's cheeks, 
 when another man came running there from the drive's 
 congested traffic. 
 
 It was Stuyverant, white and excited. " Princess ! " 
 he cried. 
 
 Thurley turned, beheld him, and flushed to the tips 
 of her ears. 
 
 " Here, give me that horse," said one of the mounted
 
 66 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 policeman, now on foot beside the others. " The young 
 lady might have been killed." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Thurley. " He's calm enough 
 now. If someone will please adjust the saddle " 
 
 "Are you hurt?" said Stuyverant, crowding to her 
 side. " Is there anything I can do ? " 
 
 James, other riders, and a dozen men, together with 
 added numbers of policemen, arrived there in all man- 
 ner of haste. Thurley foresaw interference and annoy- 
 ance. She turned to Stuyverant gladly, as to one she 
 felt she knew. 
 
 " I'm not even scratched," she told him in her spir- 
 ited manner. " He was stopping. He's not excited 
 now. If the saddle hadn't turned, there would be no 
 need for anyone to help." 
 
 The rider who had caught at her horse's bit at last 
 reddened more deeply beneath the sun-tan of his face. 
 " I'm sorry if you think I interfered was the 
 cause " 
 
 " You were very kind," said Thurley radiantly, her 
 smile restoring his exultation in the moment. " Per- 
 haps if you'll help me now to Oh, here is James. 
 The saddle, James, will you please put it on a little 
 tighter?" 
 
 " Look here, Miss," said the policeman who was hold- 
 ing his own fine animal as well as the quivering bay, " I 
 don't want to make you no trouble, nor nothing like 
 that, but this horse here is excited. He ain't fit for 
 no lady to ride." 
 
 He too received a smile. " You wouldn't arrest him 
 for a little run like that? If you please, I think I know 
 him best. I'll give you my word he'll behave." 
 
 Stuyverant longed for the use of his injured arm.
 
 REVELATIONS IN A RUNAWAY 67 
 
 He thought of another expedient. " You wouldn't 
 think of riding him again not this morning ! " he 
 said, hopelessly convinced that a girl of Thurley's spirit 
 would think of nothing else. " Let me offer to take you 
 home. The carriage is here." 
 
 James was adjusting the saddle stolidly. 
 
 The rider who had all but effected a rescue fancied he 
 read the one desire in Thurley's courageous nature. 
 " The horse was under control entirely," he said. " I'm 
 sorry I interfered.'* He was not; he was riotously 
 glad. " I'm sure the lady may be trusted to ride him 
 safely home." 
 
 " Well now, I don'no," said the officer. 
 
 " No, no ! " said a man in the gathering crowd. 
 " It's madness a beast like that ! " 
 
 Thurley had heard only the man who had ridden to 
 her side and helped to dislodge her from her seat. She 
 turned to him appealingly. " Not home I'd rather 
 not go home just yet. I do wish people wouldn't act 
 so seriously ! Please help me go on as I was ! " 
 
 Stuyverant was desperate. The policeman was afraid 
 of troubles that might still develop. 
 
 " You see, Miss," he started, above the murmur and 
 protest of the crowd, " a horse like this " 
 
 " Here, Officer," muttered the ruddy young rider of 
 the black, slipping a bill into the big hard hand of the 
 law's representative, "just scatter the crowd. With a 
 dozen of you chaps watching him now, the horse can 
 do no harm." He saw that James had concluded the 
 readjustment of the saddle. " May I assist you up? " 
 he added to Thurley, offering his card. " It's the least 
 I can do, after helping to bring you down." 
 
 Thurley smiled her acceptance of his offer, and re-
 
 68 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 ceived the card. Already the policemen were moving 
 back the crowd and heading other horsemen from the 
 scene. A number of those who were nearest the path 
 saw Thurley once more mounted on her throne. Stuy- 
 verant pressed in once again and halted in front of the 
 restless horse, looking up beseechingly. 
 
 " May I not see you soon? " he said. " If I hadn't 
 been crippled like this " 
 
 Thurley looked down at his upturned face with glory 
 and mischief burning together in her eyes. " If you 
 can find me yes." She did not know that he had 
 recognized her man. 
 
 Then James released the thoroughbred and she gal- 
 loped quietly away.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A ROYAL ROLE 
 
 A FRAGRANT, spicy furore swept searchingly through 
 swelldom, stirring its units to the depths. Whence 
 sprang the intelligence no one knew; for a score of 
 prominent personages claimed, almost simultaneously, 
 to have made the discovery that Princess Thirvinia, 
 missing from Europe and said to be traveling or visit- 
 ing incognito in America, was the guest of Alice Van 
 Kirk. 
 
 The tropic storm, involving curiosity, envy, incre- 
 dulity, and the most intense concern, raged with its 
 own sort of languorous violence throughout the length 
 and breadth of the upper social stratum. On orchid's 
 breath and on jeweled wings the word was sped of the 
 beauty and daring of the glorious girl who had come 
 to masquerade among them. 
 
 A hundred or. more of the world's elept, who knew 
 and spoke with authority, had seen the headstrong 
 horsemanship, the runaway, the fall, and Thurley's re- 
 turn to her horse's back, of which all the avenue was 
 talking. A dozen remembered to have caught a recent 
 glimpse of Alice Van Kirk with a girl extraordinarily 
 handsome. One or two men had heard Robley Stuy- 
 verant call her Princess as he ran to her assistance. 
 The wonderful contrast of her golden hair, her choco- 
 late eyes, and the darkness of her brows, had escaped 
 not one who had seen her.
 
 70 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Excitement, speculation, and a thousand forgotten 
 intentions to cultivate Alice Van Kirk sprang into im- 
 mediate activity and the fondest of Alice's social 
 hopes had been granted well nigh instantaneous fulfill- 
 ment. 
 
 Thurley had been home an hour, and Alice barely 
 twenty minutes, when the first delighted buzz of the 
 oncoming storm penetrated the quiet magnificence of 
 the palace on the avenue and warned the expectant 
 hostess. It entered by means of the 'phone a 
 woman's voice, solicitous, endearing, protesting a never 
 forgotten friendship, and inquiring as to any possible 
 injuries inflicted on Mrs. Van Kirk's beautiful guest 
 by her accident in the park. 
 
 " It is like your enterprise, my dear, to harbor an 
 errant Princess," added the woman caressingly. " It 
 justifies the faith I have always reposed in your origi- 
 nality and leadership. It is Princess Thirvinia, of 
 course? " 
 
 "Has anyone heard me say so?" answered Alice 
 evasively, " or anything at all ? " 
 
 " My dear," said the friend, " I have always praised 
 your discretion, and now you compel me again. I 
 thought perhaps you and your charming protegee 
 might join my little informal dinner party at the Plaza 
 on the eighth and help to fill my Horse Show box in 
 the evening. May I count upon you, dear ? " 
 
 " I fear it would hardly be safe," said Alice, and she 
 presently added, " Good by." 
 
 She hastened at once to Thurley's presence, for need 
 of a clarifying conference. She appeared quite calm, 
 even languid, as she came in, tall, erect, and almost 
 military in her strong resemblance to the Major; but
 
 A ROYAL ROLE 71 
 
 excitement was burning in her bosom. Accounts of 
 Thurley's ride had been sufficiently agitating; but this 
 was of vastly different order. 
 
 " Dear child," she said, employing an appellation re- 
 cently born of her swiftly increasing fondness for the 
 girl, " I wonder if you realize all that happened to-day 
 in the park? " 
 
 Thurley, who was resting after a session with her 
 maids, looked up at Alice inquiringly, a serious pucker 
 on her brow. They had spoken of the accident before. 
 
 " Why not if it's anything dreadful. Nothing, I 
 hope, to give you worry," she said. " You haven't 
 decided, after all, that I'm not to ride him again ! " 
 
 "It isn't that; but, as for worry, judge for your- 
 self," said Alice with a smile. " You convinced the 
 world our world, at least that Princess Thirvinia, 
 living for a time incognito, was here in New York as 
 my guest." 
 
 Thurley was grave and flushed for a moment, then 
 burst into laughter, deliciously fresh. " How utterly 
 ridiculous! It's perfectly absurd! I wondered why 
 Mr. Stuyverant should call me But of course they 
 will soon understand. No one could be long deceived 
 by anything so ludicrous." 
 
 " That is not altogether so certain," Alice answered 
 seriously. " What was it Robley Stuyverant called 
 you, my dear? " 
 
 " Why * Princess,' I think." Her cheeks took on 
 a tint of embarrassment and pleasure. " Of course he 
 doesn't know my name ! but why he should think 
 If he is the only one who thinks so so peculiarly " 
 
 " He is not, dear child. He is one of scores who are 
 quite convinced they have shown tremendous acumen
 
 72 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 in making the same discovery. Doesn't the notion 
 rather amuse and please you? " 
 
 " Why, but think of daring to let them of 
 posing, I mean and being revealed, and all that ! 
 It might be amusing for a day, of course, especially 
 with all you are doing giving me making of me, 
 here. But, Alice, to dare to claim Don't you see 
 how you how I both of us would appear the min- 
 ute the facts came out? " 
 
 Alice nodded. " Precisely, my dear Thurley. And 
 that is exactly why we do not intend to make the 
 slightest claim or pretense to anything of the sort. 
 But do you think of any good reason for revealing any- 
 thing at all? Should we try to disabuse the minds of 
 any of these people who flattered themselves by their 
 cleverness in discovering the marked resemblance be- 
 tween yourself and Princess Thirvinia? " 
 
 Thurley looked at her sharply, her eyes grown grave 
 at once. " Do you mean " 
 
 " I mean, my dear, that if we denied the soft im- 
 peachment we should only convince them the more. I 
 mean it would certainly amuse us both and afford us 
 immeasurable entertainment to permit them to think 
 what they please, to assert nothing, deny nothing ; 
 merely permit events to shape themselves as they will. 
 Wouldn't that please and amuse you, dear? Couldn't 
 you play the role? " 
 
 " The role of a Princess? " 
 
 " The role of a lovely young girl whose identity is 
 wholly unknown. If you fit the mold of a Princess, I 
 should call it singularly good fortune." 
 
 Thurley burned warmly again, with innate modesty 
 and with irrepressible delight in the thought, with its
 
 A ROYAL ROLE 73 
 
 attendant possibilities. " But I I shouldn't know 
 the very first thing of the way a Princess behaves or 
 talks or anything. And Princess Thirvinia must be a 
 German, or something like it, of course." 
 
 " And you once taught French and German, and told 
 me you lived three years on the Continent. I have 
 heard you speaking both languages to your maids. 
 In addition to that, you must certainly see that Prin- 
 cess Thirvinia, attempting to conceal herself, or to 
 masquerade in Manhattan, would naturally make every 
 possible effort to act as unlike a royal personage as 
 possible. Oh, you could do it, my dear, if that was our 
 desire. But at most I have only suggested the amuse- 
 ment of maintaining absolute secrecy, or mystery, as 
 to who and what you are, and permitting our clever ac- 
 quaintances to do the rest for themselves. You will do 
 this much to please me, I am sure." 
 
 Thurley regarded her soberly. " You desire it very 
 much? " 
 
 " It would please me greatly, amuse me, afford me 
 new interest in life." 
 
 Thurley was silent for a moment, her face flushed 
 and paler by turns. Slowly the brightest sparkle of a 
 smile and flash of jewel brightness came to her eyes. 
 " It would be a lark good fun." 
 
 " You'll do it, dear? " Alice was far more eager 
 than accent or movement could possibly indicate. 
 
 Thurley was instantly reflective. " What would the 
 role involve? How should I have to begin? You see, 
 I don't in the least know what I should have to do." 
 
 " Do almost nothing," Alice informed her sagely. 
 " Let people make fools of themselves if that is their 
 whim. It's so much more complete. We shall simply
 
 74 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 evade and parry all questions, make no claims, and 
 rather avoid the subject than court it. All I require of 
 you, my dear, is that you make no disclaimers to any- 
 one; that you reveal nothing at all from the past; and 
 that you spend money regally, continue lovely, and 
 avoid all heart entanglements for at least a year. You 
 know I asked that before, and received your acceptance 
 of the condition. You are free, of course, to conduct 
 all the mild flirtations you please. I really wish you to 
 be royally happy and free." 
 
 " Oh, Lordy ! " said Thurley girlishly, her face fairly 
 beaming with dimpling smiles. " It's so comical ! Do 
 you really think I'm worth it, think I shan't make a 
 failure of it all?" 
 
 She had risen in her new excitement of spirit, and 
 Alice rose to take her two warm hands. 
 
 " Dear child," she said, " I don't believe there's an 
 ounce of failure in your composition. If you wish to 
 know, I think it rather your natural right to be an 
 American Princess." She kissed her honestly, adding, 
 " I have always felt I'd like to make one, my own way." 
 
 Thurley smiled with tender wistfulness. " I'm so 
 afraid I may have to wake up ! I was never loyal to a 
 fairy queen before. It's so odd to have to believe in 
 fairies now ! " 
 
 " But you do. It's a bargain, then, my harsh con- 
 ditions and all?" 
 
 " Why I suppose so. It could do no harm to any- 
 one in the world. But suppose that someone any- 
 one I used to know should find me out and explode 
 the little fiction?" 
 
 "What fiction?" said Alice. "You see, my dear, 
 we are putting forth no fiction. We must both remem-
 
 A ROYAL ROLE 75 
 
 her that. Besides, you are rather far removed from 
 all your older life and associations. Let's consider the 
 agreement settled and begin to enjoy the play." 
 
 " I couldn't help enjoying the situation," Thurley 
 admitted. " I'm afraid I'm hopelessly human." 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! " said Alice. " Let's go down. I 
 hear the 'phone."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 CONFIRMING A RUMOR 
 
 ALL evening the telephone was jangling and the wire 
 was warm with invitations, declarations of friendship, 
 and solicitude for the nerves of the royal little rider 
 who had been all but thrown in the park. Through- 
 out all swelldom the silvery alarms were tinkling, some 
 as bald warnings to beware of sham, some in sheer 
 trepidation of spirit, and some as a mere relief to be- 
 ings hopelessly burdened with ennui. 
 
 On the following day, which was Alice's afternoon at 
 home, the stir and the test began. Fifty or more of 
 Gotham's elect, including delegates from the sharpest, 
 the wealthiest, and the most inquisitive cliques, remem- 
 bered that attentions had long been due to Alice Van 
 Kiirk and arrived to meet their obligations. 
 
 Stuyverant came at four, only to find himself help- 
 lessly isolated from the Princess by others more prompt 
 than himself. He had never thought her so regally 
 dainty, so altogether irresistible and exquisite, as he 
 found her to-day when she gave him her hand the mo- 
 ment when Alice formally made them acquainted. 
 
 She was introduced merely as Miss Thurley, and not 
 by the slightest sign or hint was the claim to royalty 
 admitted. No vision more girlishly lovely, sincere, or 
 disarming than she presented, there by Alice's side, 
 had ever been known in all Manhattan. To those of 
 the keenly astute frame of mind who addressed her in 
 
 76
 
 CONFIRMING A RUMOR 77 
 
 French or German she replied in their chosen tongue 
 with piquancy and ease that almost invariably shamed 
 their somewhat puny and unpracticed accomplish- 
 ments in Continental languages. 
 
 The very evasions and faint denials by which Alice 
 parried the bolder assertions that Thurley had been in- 
 stantly recognized and might as well be confessed, only 
 served to strengthen the conviction as to Thurley's 
 royal origin. It was all adroit, tactful, insidious ; and 
 it met its just reward. Those who had come sur- 
 charged with doubt and ready to prick the bubble of 
 Alice Van Kirk's latest triumph, were the first to be 
 self deluded, and hence the wonder grew. 
 
 A meager five minutes was the utmost that Stuy- 
 verant and Thurley could manage to detach in which to 
 be even approximately alone. He was simply nearer 
 to her side than anyone else as she sat in a corner of 
 the room. 
 
 He moved a trifle closer and lowered his voice. 
 " Did you think I shouldn't find you yesterday, Miss 
 Thurley, when you gave me permission to try? " 
 
 She met the ardor of his gaze with candid interest, 
 noting the change that absence of pain had wrought 
 upon his face and mentally approving his finely chiseled 
 features, the healthy glow of his color, and the steady 
 level of his warm gray eyes. 
 
 She laughed. " Did I appear to stop and think at 
 all? You haven't spoken of your wrist. I hope it's 
 mending rapidly." 
 
 His eyes were shining. " I still prefer someone else 
 to drive the car. Will you sometime permit me to 
 thank you properly ? " 
 
 "Would it be so improper now?"
 
 78 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 He met her merry glance undaunted. " It would be 
 a sacrilege in the presence of all these persons. Of 
 course you're aware they are simply a lot of self-ap- 
 pointed appraisers and I'm sure you know I am not." 
 
 " I must be very knowing," said Thurley, to know 
 so much so soon." 
 
 " It's ^ the third time we've met," he answered. 
 ' There is always a charm in threes." 
 
 Her eyes showed mock dejection. "Oh, isn't that 
 too bad? You may wish never to disturb the charm 
 again ! " 
 
 He was equal to the quip. " It can never be dis- 
 turbed, once established like this. In fact, as soon as 
 you took the wheel that day in the park, it was com- 
 plete." 
 
 " I feared it," she answered, " complete, finished, 
 labeled, and laid away, to be forgotten." 
 
 He was nonplussed only for a moment. " I can see 
 you were never a boy when the jam was labeled and 
 laid away to be remembered." He glanced up 
 quickly where one of the maids had admitted new call- 
 ers at the door. Good Heavens ! " he added, behold- 
 ing two exceedingly ample women surging in majestic- 
 ally, " more old Dreadnoughts ! I wanted to ask " 
 
 But Alice was coming. 
 
 Thurley rose, not only to meet the imposing visitors, 
 but also a man in their company. 
 
 For a moment she wondered, almost in fear, where 
 the eyes of this man might have confronted hers be- 
 fore. Then she knew him, the rider encountered in 
 the park, he who had raced to halt her horse and 
 helped her to her sudden dismounting. His name was 
 Kelsey Woods.
 
 CONFIRMING A RUMOR 79 
 
 " Shamelessly glad to see you again," he informed 
 her with pleasant boldness of candor. " Sorry not to 
 find you riding out to-day." 
 
 Then his eyes came to rest for a second on the face 
 of Robley Stuyverant, heading for Alice Van Kirk. 
 Their glances met and exchanged some manner of chal- 
 lenge that their formal bows made little attempt to dis- 
 guise. 
 
 Three minutes later, when Lady Honore Calthorp, 
 and young Count Jose Viziano y Fiaschi, the fiery 
 Spanish-Italian duelist and Romeo of numerous Euro- 
 pean capitalists, made their appearance, Alice's cup 
 was filled with a violence almost alarming. 
 
 "Ah, Mam'selle!" said the Count almost instantly 
 on his presentation to Thurley, his voice reminiscent of 
 Vesuvian flames and lavas. " In St. Petersburg I die 
 three time to have this honor mine at last ! " and he 
 kissed her hand with Italian fervor and Spanish grace, 
 cracking his heels together energetically as he bent his 
 supple waist. " At last my soul is in flight above the 
 clouds ! but you do not recall you have seen me, no ! " 
 
 "I I'm afraid I do not," said Thurley, unprepared 
 for such a demonstration. " I'm sure I should remem- 
 ber." 
 
 " Valgame Dios! " he answered from his altitude 
 above the clouds. " You have only changed to become 
 more lovely." 
 
 Then he met the cold American stare of Stuy- 
 verant's blue-gray and Woods' light greenish eyes, and 
 a little comprehended that the course even of a Romeo's 
 ardor may not be so smooth as milk. 
 
 Thurley escaped with a surge of relief, to the placid 
 stolidity of Lady Honore Calthorp's presence, and be-
 
 80 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 gan to wonder how the game on which she had entered 
 would end. 
 
 It had only begun. The afternoon was a calm, un- 
 excited prologue merely of the complications, rivalries, 
 shocks, and surprises already mustered, out beyond, to 
 procession into and through her life, newly launched 
 in its royal career. 
 
 Conventionality cleared the house within the ensuing 
 hour; but nothing could clear the pathway reaching 
 out ahead, where its windings and grades, its rocky 
 slopes and grassy reaches, were alike obscured in the 
 veils of things that were yet to be, too remote to cast 
 a shadow or reflect the glow of the sun. 
 
 In the next few days full confirmation of the fact 
 that Alice Van Kirk's protegee was none other than the 
 royal Princess Thirvinia was vouchsafed from every di- 
 rection, despite the Van Kirk evasions and Thurley's 
 avoidance of the subject. Besiegers stormed the Fifth 
 Avenue mansion in droves. Friends, admirers, and in- 
 vitations multiplied appallingly, and then the Horse 
 Show opened the season of the goddesses of wealth.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HORSES AND HUMANS 
 
 NEVER had the premiere of Society's pet function been 
 so brilliant. Never had the gilded hostelries of 
 Gotham entertained so great a number of guests at 
 Horse Show dinners, nor had special decorations and 
 favors at the gorgeous dining rooms ever been so lavish 
 or so costly. It was the night of the horse and splen- 
 dor, the splendor of raiment, jewels, and beauty for 
 which American women are famous throughout the 
 world. 
 
 The attendance at huge old transformed Madison 
 Square Garden was more brilliant than either the show 
 or the setting. It was late when the boxes began to 
 fill, the arena boxes, separated from the horses' ring 
 only by the railed-off promenade. Superbly gowned 
 and furred, the women began to arrive at nine, despite 
 the fact that many ring events had been scheduled for 
 an hour earlier. At half-past nine, with six magnifi- 
 cent teams of heavy draft horses proudly entering upon 
 the tanbark, and the boxes practically filled, the band, 
 by mere coincidence, struck up the German national an- 
 them and Thurley and Alice arrived. 
 
 A murmur of excitement, admiration, and homage al- 
 most instantly arose. No more exquisitely regal fig- 
 ure had ever graced the garden than Thurley pre- 
 sented, moving slowly with Alice and her party to their 
 box. Never had Thurley's fresh young beauty so 
 
 81
 
 82 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 glowed and irradiated charm. She was gowned like a 
 veritable Princess of this fairy court. 
 
 With herself and Alice were Lady Honore Calthorp, 
 Major Rutherford of the Seventh British Hussars, the 
 Hon. Miss Dorothy Hedrington, Lieutenant Lee Gehard 
 Curtiss (14th Cavalry, U. S. A.), and his wife, all of 
 whom had comprised the Van Kirk dinner party at the 
 Plaza. 
 
 Thurley had never been more happily excited in her 
 life than when, as they reached their box and assumed 
 their seats, the beauty and thrill of it crept to her 
 senses and the wine of it surged in her pulses. She was 
 unaware of a thousand pair of eyes already focused 
 upon her. Her heart was beating to the music; her 
 color was glowing to the softened refulgence of a 
 thousand crystals of flame; her nature was tingling 
 with warmth and delight at the sight of the twenty- 
 four great horses in the ring, six teams of four each, 
 superbly accoutred and arching their necks with con- 
 scious pride in their strength and breeding as they 
 moved about on the tanbark of the oval. 
 
 Below her were scores of beings of all degrees in the 
 social world. A fringe of men and women, absorb- 
 ingly interested in horses, and nothing but horses, hung 
 upon the wooden rail about the ring, as children might 
 at a circus. Behind them and frequently mingling with 
 them were men in evening costume and women richly 
 gowned, who represented the sporting element of Goth- 
 am's elect. Between these latter and the balustrade 
 of the boxes paraded scores and droves of the curious, 
 frankly inspecting the occupants of favored seats above 
 them. 
 
 All sorts and conditions were represented in this
 
 HORSES AND HUMANS 83 
 
 ever-moving procession, from the wealthiest and most 
 select, to the poorest girl worker from some Broadway 
 office, treating herself to this proximity to wealth and 
 the scions thereof. 
 
 Far across, and up and down the huge arena, the 
 scores of boxes were filled with the darlings of money 
 and power, and back and forth their occupants were 
 visiting, a hundred already alive with interest at the 
 news that the Princess had appeared. 
 
 Robley Stuyverant arrived at the Van Kirk box al- 
 most at Alice's heels. He had barely time to pay his 
 respects to the occupants and be formally presented 
 to Major Rutherford and the Curtisses, when the Ve- 
 suvian Romeo, Count Fiaschi, likewise arrived, to be 
 followed by young Baron Klimsch, Captain Fowler, 
 Beau Brymmer of the diplomatic service, and a con- 
 stant stream of eager visitors. 
 
 No less than half a dozen boxes were emptied forth- 
 with, as their holders joined the now congesting parade 
 slowly moving by the place where Thurley sat. 
 Amused and too diverted by the horses and pageantry 
 of notables to find conversation with Stuyverant or any 
 others possible, the " Princess " gained in animation 
 momentarily and her smile became more infectious 
 and winning. 
 
 "Ah, Highness," she heard Count Fiaschi murmur 
 in his reckless ardor, " I am dropping from the clouds 
 these days until I see you once again ! My wings are 
 your smiles. You will not see me dash to earth with 
 all his rocks ? One smile ! I soar again ! Ah ! " 
 
 Thurley had smiled, it may not be denied. " You 
 are very considerate," she told him. " You fear the 
 rocks might be broken."
 
 84 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Virgen santisima! No 1 " he assured her. " My 
 heart ! " 
 
 She smiled again; and yet he did not soar, but in- 
 stead edged closer with his chair. 
 
 " It is divinity ! " he murmured. " It is above Para- 
 dise and " 
 
 He did not finish his description. Stuyverant was 
 glowering upon him forbiddingly. How utterly he 
 loathed a being who could bring his grimaces and de- 
 portment of courtship to this public theater! But the 
 interruption came from another source. 
 
 Kelsey Woods, the dashing horseman of the park, 
 had crowded forward in the press below Thurley's seat 
 and, saluting with his hat, held up his hand for the 
 formal grip that hundreds were exchanging between 
 boxes and parade. 
 
 " Began to fear you might not come," he confessed, 
 with his usual candor. " Been watching constantly. 
 I say, I thought I might ask you to ride my hunter 
 Wednesday night, and perhaps drive my hackneys as 
 well. What do you say?" 
 
 Thurley appeared all innocence. " All at once, Mr. 
 Woods ? Wouldn't it seem an innovation ? " 
 
 " Did I make it sound like that? " he begged. " Re- 
 version to my English schooling. Shocking habit! 
 But you'll ride the hunter? He's a beauty." 
 
 Alice leaned down above the throng. " Kelsey 
 Woods," she said, "please take your temptations to 
 another quarter." 
 
 A sudden ripple of applause, as a team of magnifi- 
 cent Norman percherons received the blue ribbon for 
 a first award, startled Thurley to attention on the 
 horses. They were trotting off like big, good-natured
 
 E3F- 
 
 ifsr 'i**
 
 HORSES AND HUMANS 85 
 
 playfellows of toil, and the girl's softly glowing eyes 
 abruptly focused on a face below, at which she gazed 
 in unexplainable fascination. 
 
 The face was that of a woman, a well gowned, aris- 
 tocratic looking woman, with an air of something dis- 
 tinctly foreign in her composition. She was pale, her 
 face was of an olive tint, and it was large, too large 
 for beauty or anything save a certain sense of strength. 
 It was her eyes, however, that exercised the fascination. 
 They were slightly slanted, exceptionally wide apart, 
 and of the palest, ice blue color imaginable. 
 
 Fixed upon Thurley's face with singular intensity, 
 these eyes became for a moment the only visible objects 
 presented to the girl in all the theater of color and mo- 
 tion. They were baleful, poisonous seeming eyes, pen- 
 etrative and disturbingly insistent in their stare. All 
 their concentrated power appeared to be centered on 
 the girl, who felt herself swiftly losing her sense of joy 
 and partaking of coldness of the nerves. 
 
 By an effort Thurley wrenched her own honest gaze 
 from the woman's and smiled up at Stuyverant, stand- 
 ing at Alice's side. In the grateful light he gave her 
 from his warm gray eyes she felt new security, a com- 
 radeship that someway took her instantly back to that 
 day in the park when a fall broke his wrist and placed 
 him for a little in her care.
 
 88 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 features, nodded once as if to himself, and disappeared 
 in the throng. He was the second curious individual 
 who had waited for a clear, unobstructed view of her 
 face for reasons that were not mere curiosity or admira- 
 tion. 
 
 There was still a third such being in the garden, 
 another woman, one of the humblest of the humble, a 
 worker, out of employment, consumed with love of 
 things in the unattainable highest social stratum, and 
 now far out in the tide jof the crush that slowly pa- 
 raded by the box where Thurley was sitting in her 
 splendor. She was Thurley's cousin. She had seen 
 the " Princess " from across the ring, and, unable to 
 credit her senses or believe it was she, was slowly work- 
 ing forward with the press, fearful lest Thurley might 
 at any moment rise and depart before she could come 
 sufficiently close perhaps to attract her gaze. 
 
 Meantime the person with the Kaiser adornment on 
 his upper lip, having cleared the close packed audience 
 before the " royal " box, made rapid progress down the 
 Garden to the rear, where horses in waiting, with car- 
 riages, grooms, and footmen, were screened from the 
 general view, and, saluting a tall, whiskered foreigner, 
 stepped nimbly aside to report. 
 
 " It is she," he stated, murmuring his statement in 
 German. " I should know her in a million, though I 
 saw her but once at court." 
 
 " She saw you ? She might have known you ! " de- 
 manded the other, with evident impatience. " What 
 of that?" 
 
 The smaller man shook a violent negative. " She 
 neither saw me nor would she know me by any possi- 
 bility, though she looked for an hour in my face."
 
 ELEMENTS OF COMPLICATION 89 
 
 The other turned and struck with his fist in his palm. 
 " The folly, the headstrong folly, of her escapade 
 and to show herself in public here like this ! We are 
 helpless to move. We can only, at most, report." 
 
 He started in a feverish stride past carriages and 
 servants, and so, emerging from behind the screen at 
 its opposite end, continued down on the farther side of 
 the oval, making his way to the exit of the garden. 
 Once he paused, with his agent at his heels, to glance 
 half resentfully across the ring at the girl on the oppo- 
 site side. 
 
 " So beautiful, so conspicuous ! " he muttered in his 
 throaty German. " The peril, the perpetual disaster, 
 of beauty ! " He shrugged his shoulders, continued on 
 and out at the door, and was driven away, still accom- 
 panied by his man, in a limousine car that was waiting 
 for him. 
 
 Thurley's relative, during this brief period, had 
 wormed her way to a gap in the fringe of people lean- 
 ing on the rail about the ring, and there she caught 
 at an anchorage from which to make her observations. 
 She was small and insignificant, this poor bit of drift 
 in the daily tides of Gotham, a woman of perhaps thir- 
 ty-three, rather white of face, slender, and nervous. 
 She bore not the slightest resemblance to Thurley, at 
 whom she was gazing now with faculties utterly bewil- 
 dered. 
 
 In one moment certain, in the next unconvinced, that 
 a being so glorious, so radiant, so obviously one of New 
 York's elite, could possibly have any identity with 
 Thurley Ruxton, she lost all sense of judgment. 
 There were moments when Alice's protegee seemed un- 
 mistakably the cousin from New Haven. In the next
 
 90 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 she appeared absolutely another individual, not even 
 so remarkably like Thurley, after all. 
 
 It seemed, moreover, preposterous that Thurley 
 could have come to this estate. Nothing in reason 
 could account for her elevation thus to such patent fa- 
 voritism with swelldom's exacting and reluctant mon- 
 archs. And then, presently, to the dulled perception 
 of the eager woman's ears came the tag end of a con- 
 versation, every part of which she might have over- 
 heard. A man was speaking, one hallmarked with pa- 
 trician manners. 
 
 " Yes," he agreed, as if upon mature reflection and 
 estimate, eying Thurley through half-closed lids, as a 
 connoisseur squints at a painting, " she quite fulfills the 
 final requirements in a Princess the first I ever saw 
 that did. For the most part they're a bally homely lot. 
 Princess Thurvinia I confess my ignorance of her 
 State; but that hair, that Flemish hair, I should know 
 that in the dark." 
 
 Thurley's cousin gazed at the " Princess " with 
 newer interest, all question instantly banished from her 
 mind. She could see it was not Thurley now, and felt 
 herself flattered in that seat of her former doubt that 
 had argued the utter absurdity of such social eminence 
 for the girl who had not so long before taught stu- 
 dents in the classic shades of Yale. 
 
 But she did not move. 0he was singularly fasci- 
 nated by this juxtaposition with royalty. It was al- 
 most marvelous just to be granted this fateful oppor- 
 tunity of feasting her eyes and soul, for once, on the 
 beauty and graciousness of one so nobly born and 
 reigning in the court of elegance and wealth presented
 
 ELEMENTS OF COMPLICATION 91 
 
 here, where all the worth-while world was paying hom- 
 age. 
 
 Attentions to Thurley in the box, indeed, had ren- 
 dered even casual regard of the horses out of the ques- 
 tion. In vain the fair drivers whipped their pairs to 
 speed and high stepping action. It was Thurley's 
 hour, despite herself ; and Alice was fairly dazed by the 
 unanimity with which the eager social set was plunging 
 into self delusion. 
 
 Events in the ring succeeded one another in a mere 
 routine made lifeless and colorless by the greater mag- 
 netism at the box. Thurley had scarcely had time for 
 more than mere quick glances at the horses of the 
 show ; and Alice was thinking of the wisdom of retreat. 
 
 Fifteen saddle horses for women were brought to the 
 oval, and Thurley wished, with all her heart, she might 
 enjoy them exclusively, and be herself forgotten for a 
 little time in which to catch at her wits. 
 
 She turned in her chair, looking out on the ring, and 
 then at the faces closer by. Her glance was caught 
 of a sudden by the white immobility of her cousin's 
 countenance, as the latter stood by the wooden rail, 
 transfixed by delight and adoration. 
 
 Instantly a shade of color dropped from Thurley's 
 cheeks, only to rush back as quickly in a hotter, 
 deeper flood of disordered emotions. Her recognition 
 of the small, slender figure had been immediate, and no 
 less swift had been a tumult of conflict in her brain and 
 heart as to what she ought to do. Her impulse 
 prompted her head to nod, her lips to curve in a smile 
 of old affection, and her spirit to burn its lamps of loy- 
 alty and welcome in her eyes. Her calculation and un-
 
 92 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 derlying consciousness of the obligation due to Alice 
 Van Kirk relentlessly put on their check. 
 
 Confused, incapable of weighing a matter so unex- 
 pectedly confronting her judgment for decision, she 
 did nothing at all, save to grasp at control of her fac- 
 ulties and her cousin decided in her stead. Already 
 convinced that she was gazing at Princess Thirvinia, 
 the pale little hero worshiper merely blanched a bit 
 whiter, thus to be detected at her staring, fluttered her 
 eyes in an effort to recover her wavering wits, and 
 turned to the horses in the ring. 
 
 Thurley rose and met the solicitous scrutiny of Alice's 
 eyes. She smiled, with a forced restoration of her 
 poise, her one desire now being to escape as soon as 
 possible. " Shall we go ? " she said. " It must be 
 nearly over." 
 
 " By all means, my dear," Alice answered gladly, and 
 the evening's farewells were quickly and quietly ex- 
 changed. 
 
 Still in a lingering haze of doubt, unrest, and trifling 
 apprehension lest the presence of her cousin in the town 
 might possibly compromise or even jeopardize her new 
 position in the social world, Thurley followed mechanic- 
 ally where their escorts led the way. Then, out in the 
 marble corridor of the building, facing the draft of 
 November air that swept in through the open doors, 
 she received again a peculiar wireless shock for which 
 she could have supplied no explanation. 
 
 That same foreign looking woman of the pale olive 
 face and ice blue eyes was standing over against the 
 wall, her gaze hard set and concentrated on Thurley's 
 striking features. Again that sense of something bale-
 
 93 
 
 ful and menacing tinged the girl's nerves with chill, as 
 she met the glitter of the other woman's scrutiny. 
 
 She did not observe a small, dark man, with eyes as 
 shifty as those of a coon, who glanced from herself to 
 the woman by the wall, then leisurely followed from the 
 place. 
 
 Almost with the same alacrity with which a carriage 
 attendant on the curb outside summoned Alice's car 
 to receive its passengers, a second such person called 
 up a near-by taxicab, into which the small, dark man 
 was fairly shunted. 
 
 When Alice's car rolled up the avenue, the other 
 tagged it unobtrusively at a distance of discretion in 
 the rear.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A TRIUMPH AND A JAR 
 
 FOR Thurley the Horse Show was over, while the 
 consequences of her appearance there had only as yet 
 begun. 
 
 For the two or three days next ensuing she was dimly 
 aware of a small, gnawing worry that robbed her pleas- 
 ure of its fullest charm. She wondered a thousand 
 times if she had played the generous, creditable part in 
 withholding her look of recognition from her cousin. 
 Time after time she informed herself that she had fol- 
 lowed the only possible course, that no good purpose 
 could have been served by betraying her real identity 
 to one so far removed from herself by everything of 
 life; yet the haunting reflection still remained that her 
 cousin had been denied. 
 
 For a much briefer time her mind was concerned 
 with the image of that other woman's face and its in- 
 sistent eyes. All worries were presently swept away, 
 however, in the wonderful tumult of pleasures and ex- 
 periences impinging on her changed existence. Magic 
 followed magic, at the conjuring of money and her own 
 inherent charm. Like an avalanche of dream imagin- 
 ings, all wondrously rendered true, the favors of the 
 gods were tumbling, gliding, and flowing in upon her 
 -wardrobes, jewels, the costliest furs, her own im- 
 ported car and retinue of servants, and a bank account 
 
 M
 
 A TRIUMPH AND A JAR 95 
 
 of startling proportions, entirely her own and subject 
 only to her regal little will. 
 
 She was sought from noon till midnight by a hun- 
 dred exclusive cliques among the women. She was 
 courted, flattered, worshiped, by a score of young 
 princes of wealth. Into the maelstrom of beings whose 
 sole occupation is to woo, cajole, and entice pleasures 
 to their grasp, she was whirled with dizzying velocity. 
 
 Her feeling of security increased. Worries and ap- 
 prehensions subsided rapidly in the conquering flood 
 of everyday success. Her confidence became estab- 
 lished, together with a mastery of herself and the situa- 
 tion, precisely as she felt her sense of mastery over 
 horses and the giant forces of her car. 
 ' The opera season opened at the psychological mo- 
 ment when her new assurance had lent the final polish 
 to her girlishly regal ways. The Metropolitan pre- 
 miere was a night of dazzling triumph, for Alice as 
 well as her protegee. Neither overdressed nor over 
 jeweled, Thurley was a vision of ethereal beauty and im- 
 perial grace, dividing with the wonderful music and 
 power of " Ai'da " the honors of the evening. 
 
 She was exquisite, as rare as an orchid, and at times 
 as wholly unconscious of her loveliness. She was deeply 
 moved by the searching, voluptuous enchantment of the 
 epic thus uttered forth in melody, and in such mood 
 drifted far from herself and far from the mimic play 
 of which she was the center. 
 
 She was watched from afar, or from near at hand, by 
 whole blocks of box occupants, and spectators seated 
 less favorably in the orchestra stalls. Not one of her 
 self created satellites was absent from the house. 
 Count Fiaschi, Woods, Robley Stuyverant, poor, would-
 
 96 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 be-busy Willie Stetson, Algy Dearborn of near-fame 
 in limericks, the German nobleman, the Canadian of- 
 ficer, and a baker's dozen of less aggressive and per- 
 sistent hopefuls were as near her as money and activity 
 could place them. 
 
 Not one in all the inventory had been permitted, 
 since the night of the Horse Show, so to ingratiate 
 himself with Alice as to have five whole minutes alone 
 with her monarchical little charge. The pent-up vol- 
 canics between them were therefore bordering on a state 
 of eruption and counter eruption more or less menacing 
 to each. 
 
 This particular night afforded scant if any oppor- 
 tunity, even to the most sagacious, to steal a march 
 upon his fellow conspirators. Thurley was, as it were, 
 equally divided among them all, a fact affording in- 
 tense, if only temporary, gratification to at least one 
 little creature, Mildred Gray, who could almost have 
 torn the " Princess " to shreds for having cast her spell, 
 all unwittingly, upon the Willie Stetson elsewhere men- 
 tioned. 
 
 But that night inaugurated changes. It ignited all 
 the glare and incense 6f the social ritual, casting a 
 blinding refulgence and an intoxicating fragrance of 
 narcotic essences through all the gilded halls of pleas- 
 ure. And it struck into being in Thurley Ruxton's 
 nature a tiny spark of wanton joy in her power a 
 spark that has burned the heart of many of her sex to 
 a cold, black crisp at last. 
 
 Something had echoed in her overflattered self the 
 mad desire for wealth, position, and power that had 
 steeled her resolve when Gaillard threw her off, that 
 far-back night in New Haven. It would be so good to
 
 A TRIUMPH AND A JAR 97 
 
 retaliate, to flirt with the men, to urge them on, to play 
 upon their fondest dreams and hopes, only to crush 
 them at the end! It would salve so thoroughly the 
 wounds Acton Gaillard had made in her heart to treat 
 all his kind as he had treated her, as hundreds of his ilk 
 were daily treating the college widows of her town! 
 
 She felt as if righteous indignation might almost 
 have been delegated to herself from all college widows 
 power to punish for the punishments that scores and 
 hundreds had endured. The power was hers at last! 
 Without a realizing sense of all that was occurring, she 
 had achieved at a bound that very position she had cov- 
 eted so intensely, and resolved to have, on the night of 
 her anguish and her utter mortification. 
 
 She did not actually resolve to assume the grim role 
 of Nemesis to all the moths already drawn to her light ; 
 for a certain heartlessness in such deliberate intent was 
 more or less impossible to her nature. She did, how- 
 ever, breathe fire and excitement in the consciousness 
 of mighty power laid almost unbidden in her grasp. 
 Moreover, she had promised Alice Van Kirk that she 
 would not permit her heart to become seriously entan- 
 gled for a year. If the men would come, many of 
 them insincere, self seeking, and scheming, they could 
 scarcely be so defenseless and trusting as she had one 
 time been. The hour and the world had been laid at 
 her feet and the thought made her drunk with de- 
 light. 
 
 She thought of half a dozen men at once with whom 
 a tilt at the game of hearts would be only harmless 
 diversion. She could not shut them from her life, nor 
 think of them seriously for half a moment. She men- 
 tally bunched them like asparagus, and tied them about
 
 98 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 the waist. There was one, however, not included, either 
 in the group of vegetable sprouts or her half formed 
 intent to enjoy her wondrous power. 
 
 The one was Robley Stuyverant, somewhat sacredly 
 set apart. She told herself it was merely for his wrist 
 that he must be spared ; but the hour of their meeting 
 and the way thereof was rarely absent from her 
 thoughts. 
 
 To-night as the theme of the music and the play en- 
 twined a spell of tenderness, romance, and exultation 
 with her thoughts, she could not surrender to a mere 
 desire to exercise a selfish motive. Dreams of her past, 
 some old, some as new as the hour in which she drove 
 Stuyverant's car, crept subtly to her heart and kindled 
 a glow as sweetly wholesome as the fire on a homely 
 hearth. 
 
 The hour was one not soon to be repeated, where she 
 hovered like a girl emerging from the trust and inno- 
 cence of youth to woman's conception of the world. In 
 it were mingled all her old unworldliness and a dawning 
 appreciation of the sovereignty thus magically be- 
 stowed upon her being. She loved her new-made-power 
 intensely. She loved the elegance, comfort, and beauty 
 made possible by the life into which, in the argosy of 
 fate, she had drifted thus incredibly. 
 
 There was one thing missing only, someone to 
 whom to tell it all, someone dear enough and near 
 enough to share her joy and the wonder of such an oc- 
 currence, someone whom mutual trust and love would 
 single out for such a comradeship that all they knew 
 and felt and hoped must forever be divided between 
 them. 
 
 The ghost of Gaillard strayed like a mist through the
 
 A TRIUMPH AND A JAR 99 
 
 glowing halls of her thought. He and she had once 
 been so near this very sort of partnership and trust ! 
 A pang and another recurrence of her growing desire 
 to repay his kind succeeded her momentary longing. 
 And then her gaze, which had focused for a moment on 
 the vagueness of dreams, swung out across the brilliant 
 scene presented by the audience, and met the watchful 
 eyes of Robley Stuyverant, seated near-by in a box. 
 
 A quaint little exultation leaped in her heart, at the 
 sheer audacity and boldness of love encountered in his 
 glance. It swept her for a moment away with himself 
 to a car in the open park. Then she cast off the charm 
 as she might have cast a chain, the links of which, 
 though golden, lustrous, and light to bear, she would 
 not consent to lock upon her arms. 
 
 From box to box her eager attention sped, lingering 
 here and there on the brilliant iridescence of diamonds 
 and pearls that flashed from necklaces, tiaras, and even 
 coronets, where women gowned in bewildering richness 
 and beauty vied with one another in display. And 
 then, as before, sheer ravishment of melody where 
 the blended perfections of the orchestration uttered the 
 joys and anguishes of souls at the brink of climax 
 caught up her soul, and she was wafted out on an 
 azure sea where nothing of earth could exist. 
 
 She was never able clearly to recall the kaleidoscopic 
 panorama of sensations and emotions suggested, pre- 
 sented, and withdrawn that wonderful night, her first 
 of the kind, which could never be repeated. She touched 
 the heights of ecstasy and was floating blindly across 
 the abyss that yawned below. She realized a little of 
 the triumph that she herself had achieved. For the 
 greater part, however, it was all a blur of pleasure as
 
 100 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 dazzling and indefinite as the sun brightly flashing in 
 a mist. 
 
 Not even the wondrous supper afterward made a 
 clean cut impression on her mind; except that it, like 
 all the rest, was perfect in its way, with more bright 
 music, people, joy, and irresponsibility. 
 
 The one thing of the night destined to remain pe- 
 culiarly vivid came last of all, in her own boudoir, when 
 she was once more at home. It was merely a letter 
 from the cousin she had seen by the rail at the Horse 
 Show from her height above the crowd. It had been 
 to New Haven, then to the office of Major Phipps, who 
 had brought it here himself. 
 
 With something akin to a chill at her heart, Thurley 
 opened and read the missive. It was brief, a mere re- 
 cital of the fact that the cousin had recently seen some- 
 one who reminded her so much of her one remaining 
 relative that she had to sit down and write. If Thur- 
 ley was living anywhere within reach, and received this 
 letter, perhaps they could meet. 
 
 " I am a little discouraged and lonesome," the letter 
 presently concluded, " and I'm sure it would do me good 
 to see you once again. I often think of you as the 
 only real cheer I have had in many years. I hope this 
 may find you and sufficiently arouse your former affec- 
 tion to make you wish to write at once and arrange a 
 possible meeting with your fond and faithful cousin, 
 EDITH STECK." 
 
 To Thurley's own amazement, she could not, or did 
 not immediately decide what course she should adopt. 
 For two or three days the matter drifted ; but Thurley 
 did not forget.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 
 
 HAD one more element of excitement been required to 
 render the situation breathless with possibilities, it was 
 supplied on the night of the Junior Chrysanthemum 
 Ball, which opened the season of dancing at one of the 
 great Fifth Avenue hotels. 
 
 The New York Evening Star, in its final edition, 
 came out with a redly blazoned story, announcing not 
 only that Princess Thirvinia was now well known to.be 
 disporting herself with royal grace in Gotham, but that 
 recent telegraphic and cable intelligence had estab- 
 lished the fact that she had practically run away from 
 her Kingdom, with intent to make an American al- 
 liance that should be prompted solely by her heart. 
 
 This was not all. Her fiance, of the blood royal, no 
 less a person than the Duke of Saxe Hertze and Heimer, 
 reported intensely fond of her Ladyship and greatly 
 afflicted by her new adventure and this manifestation of 
 her headstrong nature, had likewise disappeared from 
 the Kingdom of Hertzegotha. And his absence, to- 
 gether with that of the Princess, was causing grave un- 
 easiness at the royal court, despite obvious efforts to 
 conceal the truth of the rumors. 
 
 An intensified thrill and tingle shot along the deli- 
 cate nerves that articulate all swelldom, as this newest 
 sensation was devoured. At twenty dinners that pre- 
 101
 
 102 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ceded the dance marvelous little functions of bril- 
 liance and charm the topic was all of Princess Thir- 
 vinia nlasquerading at Alice Van Kirk's. 
 
 New hope had instantly arisen, not only in the 
 breasts of the eligible men, both young and old, but as 
 well in the visions of fond and planning mothers, for 
 whose sons their ambitions soared, if possible, beyond 
 even the pearly gates. Heretofore only vague wonder 
 as to what the visit of the Princess might imply had 
 been practicable. Information that she had come to 
 America seeking a mate of her heart inflamed the wild- 
 est aspirations. 
 
 By nine o'clock an astonishing number of the guests 
 were present at the decorated ballroom, which art and 
 expense had converted into a veritable bower of roses 
 and orchids. Never had the arrivals been so prompt or 
 the feeling in the air so electrically charged. 
 
 At half-past nine Alice and Thurley appeared 
 and the palpitant sensations increased. Thurley had 
 never been more radiant or winning. From her ex- 
 quisitely arched little feet to the trembling diamond 
 in her hair, she was the daintiest possible embodiment 
 of loveliness. A rose might, indeed, have chosen her to 
 be its own ambassador, to carry its fragrance, its 
 wine-warm color, and its irresistible appeal to the Court 
 of Beauty's final judgment. 
 
 New jewels, of her own selection, reposed on the vel- 
 vet of her neck. It was that they were made more 
 lovely by their association with herself, not she that 
 was beautified by them. A new inspiration of a gossa- 
 mer gown, cut modestly low and molded in perfection 
 on her lithe and rounded figure, and apparently a new 
 mood of brightness in her eyes and heart, combined to
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 103 
 
 create a gasp of ecstasy and envy on the lips of every 
 woman who beheld her and to set the hearts of all the 
 men aflame. 
 
 She and Alice were immediately besieged. It seemed 
 as if all men in the place were determined to be first at 
 her side. In the palmroom, in the fernery, and in the 
 ballroom proper, vexed girls were deserted in droves. 
 Poor little Mildred Gray, who had witnessed Willie 
 Stetson's eager and helpless homage to the " Princess " 
 before, was already pent with tears and indignation. 
 There was one consolation only to bevies of sweet, 
 pretty girl-confections, and this was that dancing must 
 soon begin, and Thurley could at most dance with only 
 one man at a time. 
 
 Immaculate Harry Bache-Stowe led the grand 
 march, which began a little before ten. His partner 
 was a last-season's beauty, Eleanor Atterbury Beek- 
 man. Thurley's lot fell to Eelsey Woods, largely in 
 response to wishes that Alice had earlier expressed. 
 Kelsey, indeed, had been one of their party at dinner, 
 also by Alice's design. She was extracting almost 
 fiendish delight in alluring Woods from the circle of one 
 of her rivals who had queened it last season, if not with 
 an iron, at least with a golden, rod. 
 
 Woods usurped the gladness of a King. Thistle- 
 down could scarcely have been lighter in his arms as he 
 and Thurley moved over the floor. " I say," said he in 
 his candid fashion, " you've translated beauty into this 
 sort of thing, you know. What do you think such 
 riding and dancing must do to a fellow's heart? " 
 
 Thurley smiled in his eyes. " But I ride on a 
 horse and dance on the floor. A heart wouldn't be at 
 all appropriate for either."
 
 104. THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Nevertheless," he declared, " mine is beneath your 
 feet." 
 
 " Oh! Isn't it hard and nicely polished? " 
 
 He tried again. " Couldn't we ride a bit together 
 soon? I sha'n't be real happy till we do." 
 
 " I'm sorry this dance makes you so miserable," she 
 answered. " Cheer up, it will soon be over." 
 
 " You do chaff a fellow," he murmured with a grin ; 
 " but you haven't answered about the riding. You've 
 no idea how much it would please me." 
 
 Again she smiled. " Is it my duty to keep big boys 
 amused? " 
 
 " I say," he demanded desperately, " will you go 
 riding with me? Yes or no ! " 
 
 Her eyes burned brighter. " Perhaps." 
 
 "Oh, Lord," he said. "Well, at least you are 
 dancing with me now. That's something." 
 
 " But not much," she added. 
 
 " I adore it, 'pon my honor," he breathed ardently ; 
 " but I'm a silly ass ! " 
 
 " You are very frank." She was enormously amused 
 at his blunders. 
 
 He flushed to the tips of his ears. " I mean in the 
 things I say the way I say them the way they 
 sound. Confound it ! May not a dunce mean what he 
 says? I'm in a bally mix, you know. Reversion 
 to my English schooling. I do that sort of thing 
 with exasperating regularity; but I'm really not 
 so stupid as I seem. Fact. And I do adore this 
 dance with you, Miss Thurley. In fact, I I " 
 
 " Don't spoil the explanation, please," she inter- 
 rupted. " I think I understand it fully." 
 
 Tenacity was one of his properties. He looked in
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 105 
 
 her eyes. " Shall we say to-morrow afternoon, then, 
 for a dash in the park? " 
 
 " Not to-morrow afternoon." 
 
 "Will you seta day?" 
 
 "Will you abide by my selection?" 
 
 " Absolutely ! " He was all but trembling with ex- 
 citement and joy. 
 
 She was quite grave. " Well, then say we ride on 
 Judgment Day, about three in the afternoon unless 
 it rains." 
 
 He groaned. " I know what it means. You have 
 never forgiven my bally interference. But your horse 
 was running away." 
 
 She was instantly serious. " Oh, indeed, Mr. Woods, 
 I thoroughly appreciated your splendid intention. It 
 was splendid. And your horse must be superbly swift." 
 
 His pleasure returned like a homing pigeon. " Will 
 you accept him, Miss Thurley, as a gift? " 
 
 " Oh, dear me, no ! " she answered girlishly. " I 
 couldn't possibly ride two at once, and I shouldn't 
 think of surrendering Cataract my ' wild Cataract 
 that leaps in glory.' I think we could beat you in a 
 race." 
 
 A hope was flashed on his mind. " Will you try ? " 
 
 " Yes, on Judgment Day at three." 
 
 The music ceased. The evening had begun. It be- 
 came another of the triumphs that Thurley made no 
 effort to achieve. It was a brilliant, intoxicating con- 
 clave of the goddesses of Music, Beauty, and Motion. 
 On the breath of perfume and the wave of rhythm all 
 manner of love crept subtly forth, the passionate with 
 the tender, the bold with the timid, the selfish with the 
 pure. Youths and men, the eager swains who were
 
 106 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 granted the ecstasy of holding Thurley in their arms 
 for a brief, bewildering rotation in the maze of the mu- 
 sic's spell, succumbed both with and against their wills 
 to the magic of her personality. 
 
 Stuyverant was there. He was miserable and ex- 
 uberant together, consumed with impatience and de- 
 spair, as he watched her dancing with and smiling upon 
 her various partners, and vibrant with rapture when she 
 spent a moment at his side. He was not dancing. 
 With his right arm suspended in a sling the feat was 
 awkward to extinction. But Thurley had granted him 
 one of her numbers, which he meant to spend in the 
 fernery, apart from the dazzle of the ballroom and the 
 insistence of the music. 
 
 Meantime for Thurley the one particular variant 
 of the evening was supplied in the various speeches and 
 devices men choose to divulge sudden love. There was 
 a certain eloquence in awkward feet, as well as in a 
 stammered speech or an all revealing glance. With 
 each and every supplicant she smiled and exchanged 
 bright froths of nothingness. It was not altogether 
 amusing, except as a clever fencer is amused at the 
 thrusts and attacks of a round of antagonists, a few 
 either clever or diabolical, but the many slow, uncertain, 
 and unskilled. 
 
 She danced and fenced with Willie Stetson and 
 found him merely an overeager boy whose one idea was 
 to take her for a drive, at any hour she liked, to any 
 place she preferred, and in any sort of conveyance of 
 her whim. There could be no doubt of his purblind 
 adoration. His very knees were aching for contact with 
 the floor anywhere about her feet. 
 
 Another of her more or less puplike idolaters was
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 107 
 
 Algy Dearborn, bitten by the malignant germ that in- 
 cites its victim to the perpetration of limericks. He 
 held her in enginelike embrace and cranked all over the 
 floor, abandoning his trolley, so to speak, with cheerful 
 and insistent disregard, and thereby colliding with 
 everyone remotely adjacent. 
 
 "You're an awful jolly good dancer," he imparted 
 delightedly. " I can really dance myself when I have 
 such a partner as you." 
 
 Thurley assumed her gravest expression. " Perhaps 
 I can get you one somewhere." 
 
 "What for?" he inquired in all earnestness. "Am 
 I not dancing with you ? " 
 
 " We are getting around," said Thurley, " fa- 
 mously." 
 
 " Do you know," he continued, as pleased as Punch, 
 " you've inspired me like the dickens. I wrote a new 
 poem that very first day we met." 
 
 " Why how complimentary ! " 
 
 " Wait till you hear it. Want to? " 
 
 " I am dying with impatience or something." 
 Her eyes looked very much alive. 
 
 He cranked about and nearly telescoped a fellow 
 dancer's face with his shoulder blade driving for an 
 opening in which to utter his gem. 
 
 " It's real short," he said regretfully ; " but I think 
 it rather above my average. If I can remember it 
 right oh, yes, it goes like this : 
 
 " A mouse with a fine sense of humour 
 Said, ' Oh the ridiculous rumour 
 That women have spunk ! ' 
 And, gee! what a funk 
 When he nibbled a suffragette boomer!
 
 108 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Rather neat, I think, and right to the point. There's 
 another working in me now. Do you know, Miss 
 Thurley, I believe you are going to give my particu- 
 lar genius more inspiration than anyone I've ever 
 met? " 
 
 Thurley smiled divinely. " Is there anyone who 
 might possibly give your genius a coup de grace? " 
 
 "Why, I don't know. I hope not. Why? " 
 
 " One can never tell what may happen. Some beings 
 have such an erratic frenzy for usefulness." 
 
 "Yes, haven't they? " said Algy, a trifle hazy as to 
 what her observations might imply. " But I think I've 
 got such a grip on the muse that she isn't likely to get 
 away." 
 
 Thurley's sympathy with the muse was heightened 
 as he closed his iron levers yet more rigidly about her. 
 He continued with his declarations of her usefulness 
 to his inspiration and otherwise revealed his honest, if 
 somewhat ponderous, sense of adoration. And then 
 that dance was happily ended and Count Fiaschi suc- 
 ceeded to his place. 
 
 The Count had been accumulating the lavas and 
 heats of his nature, in his accustomed Vesuvian style, 
 for several days. He had fretted in apprehensive im- 
 patience every hour since last he had been permitted 
 a word with Thurley alone. He was intensely excited 
 now by the prospect of taking her all to himself into 
 the added intoxication of the waltz. 
 
 " Valgame Dios! " he breathed to her rapturously. 
 " I am more favored than the tropics ! My heart is 
 more making tumult than the seas ! It is the glory of 
 you, so long by me sought ! It is my reward for devo- 
 tion, burning forever like the altar lamp not to be ex-
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 109 
 
 tinguished! Ah! to quench a little of that burning 
 thirst which my heart have blister! It is the sea of 
 ecstasy shall enfold me ! " 
 
 Thurley knew not whether to be amused or alarmed 
 at his attitude and utterance. His eyes were cer- 
 tainly blazing with something that was not altogether 
 comfortable, and beneath the handsome olive smooth- 
 ness of his complexion surged a color that played like 
 moving flame. Much of his ardor she felt inclined to 
 ascribe to the habit of his mind. Nevertheless, she had 
 much rather have it diffused in a company, she thought, 
 than cope with it thus alone. 
 
 She could adopt only her ordinary tactics, a smile 
 and a quip to meet his phrases. " Are you not afraid 
 to mix your metaphors so recklessly? " she asked. 
 " Might not the sea you mentioned engulf the lamp? " 
 
 " Ah ! Even so ! I have yet another lamp more 
 seas more everything ! It is my nature ! With my 
 love I will wither that sea ! The rosebud shall blossom 
 now, now ! at the touch of this sunshine, this 
 glory of my love ! This music ah ; nothing one 
 pulsation of my heart! This dance with you my 
 soul " 
 
 He was destined never to conclude the rhapsody. 
 Algy Dearborn, cranking by, and repeating his mouse- 
 bitten limerick, jolted the ribs, heart, wind, and seat of 
 volcanics in the Count's anatomy with a contact so 
 violent that immediate recovery was impractical. The 
 Count ceased emptying and dancing. They walked. 
 
 Thurley's friendship went out to the gripper of 
 the muse forthwith. 
 
 " Oh, mustn't football be splendid when the right 
 people play?" she said with less irrelevance than
 
 110 THUBJLEY RUXTON 
 
 Fiaschi might have imagined. " Interference is such an 
 unexpected art ! " 
 
 " Not here ! " he answered emphatically. 
 
 He took her again in the circle of his arm and re- 
 sumed a somewhat less soul-levitating locomotion. For 
 a minute or more he was content to accumulate breath 
 and scattered senses. But he was guiding Thurley 
 with new intent along the edge of the room, toward the 
 more sequestered fernery, where at times a couple, de- 
 tached from the assemblage of dancers, took a turn for 
 a moment alone. 
 
 " Perhaps football would be inappropriate here," 
 Thurley agreed innocently ; " but I should be delighted 
 to see you in a game." 
 
 " Football ah ! " he answered, slightly shrugging 
 his shoulders. " A game for mere animals ! It lacks 
 finesse ! " 
 
 " But not finish," said Thurley. " Some people like 
 it for that." 
 
 " But the game par excellence Ah ! love love ! 
 It is here you shall better wish to see me! The white 
 heat of my soul the fire of divine in the blood the 
 beautiful madness of adoration! Ah! to know this in- 
 tensity to shame the winds to soar upon the whirl- 
 wind to outdistance the star with the deeps, the ex- 
 panses, of love! " 
 
 "Wouldn't that be a long way out and lonely?" 
 asked Thurley gravely. " Closer in shore is just as 
 comfortable and there's a jolly crowd." 
 
 He looked in her eyes in his fiery fashion. " You do 
 not understand," he said, to mask his own noncompre- 
 hension of her answer. " Ah ! but you shall divinity 
 the marvel of your being this shall understand ! "
 
 With all her strength she cast him backward. 
 
 -Page 111
 
 THE FLAW IN THE GEM 111 
 
 He had managed, not without skill and adroitness, 
 to pilot her quite to the farther end of the fernery, 
 where the dimmest glow of a golden bulb was softly 
 diffused in the shadows. He halted here and stood, as 
 if about to resume the dance, with his arm about her 
 waist. His face had paled with intensified excitement. 
 Thurley feared he might have been seriously hurt by 
 the blow from Dearborn's elbow. 
 
 "You are injured!" she said. "You shouldn't at- 
 tempt " 
 
 " I am born again new the child of love ! " he 
 interrupted abruptly, his voice a mere murmur of vi- 
 brant syllables. " It is ours the world, Eden, the 
 path of roses, the grottos of fragrance ours for 
 love and yet more love my miracle of beauty ! " 
 
 He led her, drew her unexpectedly, into the dimmest 
 recess of the ferns before she could realize his inten- 
 tions, resist, or gasp an astonished protest at what he 
 was saying. 
 
 " Adored ! Divinity ! Essence of my soul ! " he 
 added in the madness of his passion, and, drawing her 
 closer, still helpless from the unexpectedness of the 
 whole affair, he attempted to kiss her on the lips. 
 
 She was instantly struggling, incensed, and fright- 
 ened. She avoided the contact, loathed by all her be- 
 ing ; yet he kissed her once on the burning curve of her 
 cheek before she could thrust him away. 
 
 "Count Fiaschi!" she cried. "Oh, the shame " 
 
 " But God ! My love ! " he answered wildly, attempt- 
 ing to still her struggles. " Princess, my love ! You 
 must discover ! You " 
 
 With all her fine young strength she cast him back- 
 ward. He all but fell against a monster jardiniere
 
 112 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and broke a frond from the fern it held in recovering 
 his balance. 
 
 Thurley started at once for the door that led to the 
 lighted hall beyond. The music had ceased. She al- 
 most collided with a man dimly seen through blurring 
 tears of anger. It was Robley Stuyverant. 
 
 " Miss Thurley," he said, " may I claim " 
 
 " Oh, yes, take me out please anywhere ! " she 
 interrupted, struggling desperately to conceal her agi- 
 tation. " The warmth perhaps I have danced too 
 hard." 
 
 She took his arm, her strength fairly wilting as she 
 felt the sense of his protecting presence. She did not 
 look where the Count had recovered both his balance 
 and his wits. He dared step actively forward. 
 
 " But, Mademoiselle Thurley, shall it not be my priv- 
 ilege to return you to Madame Van Kirk? " 
 
 His very effrontery revitalized her poise and self 
 control. " Thank you, Count Fiaschi ; it will not be 
 necessary now." She bowed, and even smiled, as Stuy- 
 verant urged her gently forward. 
 
 Then at the entrance to the larger room she received 
 a second staggering shock to nerves already tingling. 
 A tall, athletic figure had appeared in the lighted 
 frame of the arch and halted to stand aside, that she 
 and Stuyverant might pass. 
 
 It was Acton Gaillard, and his startled glance was 
 fixed on Thurley's face as if he had seen an apparition. 
 
 For one brief second her eyes encountered his, too 
 amazed to betray recognition. Then, demanding the 
 utmost of her shaken strength, she continued past him 
 coldly, while he as rigidly passed within to conclude a 
 search for Fiaschi.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 BOOTS TO TREMBLE IN 
 
 STUYVERANT felt, rather than knew, that Thin-ley had 
 been uncommonly perturbed. He had only seen the 
 Count half falling from her side, as he clutched at the 
 fern for support. Why he had done such a thing as 
 intrude where Fiaschi had guided the " Princess " was 
 more than he felt he could explain. 
 
 He had merely obeyed an impulse, since neither envy 
 nor jealousy, had they been his portion, could have 
 forced such action upon him. The ensuing dance was 
 his and Thurley's, to be chatted out, he had told her, 
 making an eloquent gesture with his injured arm, by 
 way of denoting his uselessness in a waltz. 
 
 Now, as they moved across the floor, he had a subtle 
 comprehension of her disturbed condition. He attrib- 
 uted everything to Fiaschi, whom he hated thoroughly. 
 He hoped the Count had betrayed himself so com- 
 pletely as to be an eliminated factor in Thurley's exist- 
 ence. He could not ask her what had occurred, and he 
 could not know that the sight of Acton Gaillard, more 
 than the abominations of Fiaschi, had wrought upon 
 the girl at his side to humble her splendid equipoise. 
 
 Thurley, for her part, was excited to a new intensity 
 of agitation. What it might signify thus to have 
 Gaillard drift once more across her orbit was more than 
 she dared conjecture. They could not help but meet. 
 Wild dreams of denying her former identity flashed 
 
 113
 
 114. THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 for a moment on her thought, only to be dismissed at 
 once as utterly preposterous. Gaillard was not the 
 sort of man to be tricked or deceived for half a minute 
 by any device so childish. What he would do when 
 everyone about him in the social world was diligently 
 advertising her as Princess Thirvinia was the inquiry 
 haunting her reflections. Should he take the pains to 
 declare the truth and reveal her humble origin, the dis- 
 aster to herself and Alice would be appalling. 
 
 What would or could Alice do in such eventuality? 
 Could she still continue her friendship, her support, her 
 exploiting care and expenditures? Or would she not, 
 in self defense, be obliged to repudiate the whole affair 
 and charge that she herself had been defrauded? 
 
 Stuyverant was talking, trying to start a conversa- 
 tion, trying to lead her away to the quiet retreat of the 
 palmroom beyond. She could not listen. She heard 
 as one in a dream. The wondrous butterfly existence 
 on which she was barely launched seemed about to fade 
 away. It was only a bit of Cinderella magic, after all. 
 And she loved it so! It had been so absolutely joyous ! 
 Its promise had been so golden and so sweet ! f 
 
 In that bewildering moment she was fearfully 
 tempted. She could meet Acton Gaillard, here, soon, 
 within the hour, and throw herself upon his mercy, tell 
 him all, beg him to aid her in "her harmless little pre- 
 tense. After all, she was not pretending much. She 
 was merely permitting a foolish world to make her a 
 runaway Princess. What could it possibly advantage 
 him to reveal her as his castaway, a college widow left 
 on the strand to continue the humblest of teaching? 
 
 He might exact some sort of price for the silence she 
 desired. Perhaps she might meet it were it not too
 
 BOOTS TO TREMBLE IN 115 
 
 high, and not even Alice be made aware of the bargain. 
 The possibility was tremendously exciting. He had 
 once been more than merely a friend. If by any 
 chance he might be excited to love her anew, if her 
 present position and all the rest might dazzle, in- 
 fatuate 
 
 Her senses whirled with chaotic possibilities and the 
 blinding glare of temptation. How deep and cogent 
 her temptation was she could scarcely have measured 
 herself. It was terrible, so great was her wish to con- 
 tinue as she was, so abhorrent was the thought of being 
 utterly dethroned, stripped of her finery and momentary 
 power, and cast down headlong from this gorgeous ele- 
 vation to be spurned as the merest impostor. 
 
 She clung to Stuyverant unconsciously, with the help- 
 less weakness of a child. He thrilled as one receiving 
 a sacred trust. He understood sufficient of her mental 
 dilemma and oblivion to facts to realize that she was 
 not precisely herself, that her dependence on his arm 
 was that of one distraught. Her trust and helpless- 
 ness were not to be seized and made his own, and yet 
 they filled his being with a pulsing joy that was worth 
 the price of a kingdom. 
 
 She was still in the whirl and daze of a Cinderella, 
 facing the midnight's fatal stroke, when they came to 
 an isolated bench, sequestered in the palms, and halted. 
 This much Stuyverant had been wholly unable to re- 
 sist. 
 
 " Shall we sit here where the air is fresher? " he 
 said. " May I get you an ice or something to 
 drink?" 
 
 " No oh, no, thank you," she answered at last 
 smilelessly, looking at him with her great brown eyes
 
 116 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 as full of eager query as a child's. " Have I been 
 acting very queer?" She sat on the bench. 
 
 " A bit faint, I should say," he answered, taking the 
 seat at her side. " Perhaps you were hurt, stepped 
 upon. I never thought of that." He had suddenly 
 remembered his own overpowering faintness when his 
 wrist was broken in the park. 
 
 She too must have harked to that incident and 
 thereby roused from the daze to her mind that the 
 sight of Gaillard had developed. 
 
 " I was a little hurt," she answered, faintly smiling 
 in his eyes. " Isn't it odd that you should have been 
 the one to come? " 
 
 Someway, it seemed as if pretense had fallen away, 
 if only for the moment, and evasions and froths of con- 
 versation seemed singularly inappropriate. If she 
 must be exposed as a mere usurper of social eminence, 
 she wished, with sudden intensity, to be as little guilty 
 as possible in the eyes of this one man. 
 
 The declaration in his eyes was startling in its can- 
 dor. " It was a privilege, a compensation, perhaps, 
 for all I seem doomed to surrender. If I could only 
 feel I had been of the smallest service, it would make 
 me immeasurably glad. But merely to force you to 
 walk and talk is absurd as an aid to anything. Can't 
 you let me do something more, get you something, show 
 my willingness " 
 
 " If you knew how good it is just to sit down 
 with a friend," she said, " you would not insist on 
 serving beyond my wishes." 
 
 He smiled. " Do you think I may have forgotten 
 the heavenly relief of sinking to a seat and giving 
 up the wheel to abler hands? Do you think I shall 
 ever forget a single instant of that experience? "
 
 BOOTS TO TREMBLE IN 117 
 
 It gave her joy to reflect in this hour that on that 
 day he had seemed to care a little for a strange, im- 
 pulsive girl who was guilty of no pretense, a girl whose 
 only appeal, if she made one at all, was that of one 
 soul to another. It was likewise sweet, in the doubts 
 and fright of her heart, to confess to herself that she 
 had wished from the first to be honest, sincere, and 
 different in every encounter and relationship with Rob- 
 ley Stuyverant. She knew she could not be otherwise 
 than strictly honest with him now. 
 
 " Might it not be better," she said, with a little pang 
 at her heart, " to forget that afternoon? " 
 
 " But why," he demanded, suddenly a prey to vague 
 alarms, even fears of her hopeless remoteness from him- 
 self. " Why forget, when the Fates themselves ar- 
 ranged the meeting invoked their powers so unex- 
 pectedly threw me at Fortune's feet ? " 
 
 " It might be better," she repeated, " if we could." 
 
 She had not intended to add those final words ; but 
 someway her heart cried out in protest, as she half per- 
 ceived her fairy world retreating from her vision. 
 
 Stuyverant felt some mighty enginery lifting at his 
 heart and a floodgate burst by pent emotions, till the 
 warm tide engulfed his inner being. " If we could," 
 he murmured, leaning a little nearer and barely resist- 
 ing the impulse to lift her hand to his lips. " Perhaps 
 it might be better also for the fragrance to desert the 
 rose, for hope to withdraw from life. You have no 
 real wish for these disasters? " 
 
 " Why, no, I But what have these to do with 
 anything? " 
 
 " Might there not have been something more lovely 
 than the scent of the rose in the help and sympathy you 
 offered an unknown fellow being in the park? "
 
 118 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " It was nothing the least that anyone could do." 
 She was warmly glowing as she met his gaze, and the 
 thrill in his pulses increased. 
 
 " It was such a beautiful, spontaneous action as one 
 may not forget," he answered, his breath coming fast, 
 his eyes aglow with ardor. " Not an accent fell, or 
 hardly a drop of rain, that I do not remember." 
 
 She suddenly realized that she must check their wan- 
 derings ; that she had permitted him to stray and draw 
 her with him to the primrose edge, where the foothold 
 was perilously insecure. 
 
 " How is your wrist ? " she asked him earnestly. " It 
 will not be permanently injured? " 
 
 He leaned back and met her questioning gaze with a 
 baffling spark in his eyes. " It was not my wrist that 
 received 'the serious blow." 
 
 She was suddenly crimson It was far too alluring, 
 far too soporific to her senses of alertness, duty, and 
 late alarm, this honeyed fragrance of Elysian fields, 
 where their two selves and the green and the sky were 
 alone in all the world. It had made her forget even 
 Gaillard, for a moment, not to mention Alice, the dance, 
 and herself. 
 
 " Not your wrist? " she echoed, refusing to under- 
 stand. "You were hurt internally? Have you seen 
 a doctor? You shouldn't have come here to-night!" 
 
 He felt her drifting swiftly back to a more conven- 
 tional mood. " Coming to-night was the only thing 
 that could do me the least bit of good," he declared. 
 " And it has, as you may see." 
 
 " Oh, I'm glad! " she replied. " It's the change of 
 air and scene." 
 
 " It is what I have seen," he answered dryly, even
 
 BOOTS TO TREMBLE IN 119 
 
 triumphantly, referring to the tender, honest mood she 
 had been betrayed into revealing. " I shall always be 
 far better, after to-night." 
 
 She half understood him only. The temptation to 
 linger on the verge was overwhelming. " What is it 
 you have seen ? " 
 
 Again he leaned a little closer. " That the fragrance 
 will not desert the rose." 
 
 It baffled, answered, and confused her, all at once. 
 She felt the tides of crimson once more surging to her 
 cheeks. Gladness, new courage, and heart happiness 
 possessed her like essences of strength and comfort, 
 even as some faint premonition of impending trial and 
 climax shadowed her swiftly moving thoughts. Her 
 candid nature urged her toward a sudden, absolute con- 
 fession of it all, all that she was and all that she felt 
 of trust and fears ; but she thought of Alice, remem- 
 bered her promises, and determined she must wait. 
 
 " Doesn't the music, and everything, make everyone 
 poetic ? " she answered smilingly. " Oh, that reminds 
 me ! Will you take me to Alice, now ? " 
 
 " Certainly," he answered, without moving ; " but 
 they are still dancing. It is still my number. Do you 
 very much wish to go ? " 
 
 She laughed. " Do you much wish me to stay ? " 
 
 " Just a little more than anything else in the world." 
 
 A little of her roguishness returned. She rose from 
 the bench. " Then by all means remain, and I will go 
 alone, and both our wishes will be granted." 
 
 He could not have repressed his smile, despite his 
 disappointment. " If witches had not been abolished 
 by law," he said, " some of us would tremble in our 
 boots."
 
 120 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 She was facing her Cinderella hour in the moment 
 she started for the larger room, where Gaillard would 
 doubtless be encountered. 
 
 " Think of the luck of having boots to tremble in," 
 she answered, " or even a pair of slippers." 
 
 He took her back to Alice, as the music died away 
 and the chatter of voices arose. She had barely been 
 seated at her fairy godmother's side when Gaillard ap- 
 peared with a common friend, to be formally presented.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 LOST GROUND TO BE REGAINED 
 
 THE dance was an extra, interpolated in a program 
 already sufficiently protracted. Gaillard had assumed 
 it as a natural right with a boldness and directness that 
 left Thurley practically helpless. 
 
 The somewhat dazed and wondering condition of her 
 mind had returned; but a certain strength and resolu- 
 tion had been fortified in her being by her heartening 
 little chat with Stuyverant. She found herself hang- 
 ing on Gaillard's arm and walking at his side before 
 she could possibly have formulated a plan either of at- 
 tack or of defense. 
 
 He had lost not a whit of his self assurance or his 
 arrogance of spirit. He was tanned, but otherwise 
 bore that same marked air of perfected immaculate- 
 ness. He was faultlessly dressed, and presented, as 
 ever, that distinguished manner of superiority that, 
 with his handsome face, had once made ready prey of 
 Thurley's heart. 
 
 " Well, Thurley," he said in his evenly modulated 
 murmur, adjusted so readily to carry to her ears alone, 
 " we meet again." 
 
 She could only nod her head. Already the wisdom 
 of abandoning all thought of deception was apparent 
 to her mind. 
 
 " How marvelously well you look," he continued. 
 
 121
 
 122 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 "You fit your niche, and fill your role to perfection. 
 You don't know how glad I am to see you again 
 and to see you here." 
 
 She felt the significance of those final words as if 
 they had been written in fire. Seeing her here was so 
 different from seeing her a tutor in New Haven ! Her 
 heart was beating in a wild little flutter, half of fear, 
 half of anger, to think he must thus return to cross her 
 path. She attempted a smile. " You are very kind." 
 
 He pressed her arm tightly with his own. " Do you 
 know, little girl, after all, there is nobody like you in 
 the world? " 
 
 Thurley resented his attitude. She instantly foresaw 
 by intuition that Gaillard would presume upon their 
 past relationship, and her old resolve to mete him out 
 his punishment flashed to rebirth in her breast. She 
 realized, however, the utter futility of her threat, in the 
 present situation. She was helplessly delivered to his 
 power unless she should choose to abandon all her 
 golden world for the luxury of one great outburst of 
 scorn. She was hedged about with dangers ; she knew 
 she must move discreetly and with skill. 
 
 She required time to think and feel her way. Her 
 best defense was persiflage and unobtrusive fencing. 
 " Nobody like me at all? " she asked him lightly. " Is 
 that rather fortunate or otherwise? " 
 
 "Look here!" he said. "You may as well know, 
 Thurley, that I never got over my genuine feeling, 
 after all. I hurt myself worse than I ever injured 
 you." 
 
 The truth of the matter was that her beauty had 
 overwhelmed him, made captive his self-centered being, 
 while the things he had heard of the " Princess " and
 
 LOST GROUND TO BE REGAINED 123 
 
 the obvious madness of her suitors, paying court, had 
 aroused his pique, his jealousy, his overwhelming love 
 of dominance, and set him mad to possess his oldtime 
 mastery again. 
 
 All this was apparent to Thurley, through senses 
 overacute in this crisis of affairs. She was rapidly 
 losing her sense of alarm and gaining courage and re- 
 pose. His power might be great; but his weakness 
 gave her hope. She was stubbornly determined, more- 
 over, that he should not triumph absolutely, no matter 
 what course he pursued. 
 
 " Injured me? " she said. " I'm sorry if I look in- 
 jured or anything like that." 
 
 " You don't," he admitted, aware he had blundered 
 and determined to strike another course. " You never 
 looked more absolutely glorious in your life. Tell me, 
 Thurley, how did it happen? What does it mean, this 
 delightful and amazing little masquerade, this Princess 
 claim of yours and Alice Van Kirk's ? " 
 
 It had come a little sooner than she expected. Yet, 
 after all, it was Gaillard's brute way to reveal his 
 claws at once. She arched her brows in query and sur- 
 prise. " Have you heard that either Mrs. Van Kirk 
 or I have advanced any claims, to anything at all ? " 
 
 " Why everybody's talking of it, everybody's con- 
 vinced it's true. That's the joke, of course. I don't 
 say who started the claim ; but you and Alice Van Kirk 
 are perfectly aware of what is going on." 
 
 " And you find it something to resent? " She asked 
 it with a smile that stung and captivated, accused and 
 inflamed him, together. 
 
 " Not at all ! I, Thurley ? Do you know me so lit- 
 tle as that? I was enormously amused and pleased.
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 It's something to be the only one who knows the truth. 
 I want you to keep it up." 
 
 The character of her smile slightly altered at this 
 added disclosure of his power. " It is like you to wish 
 me to keep it up," she answered inscrutably. " I could 
 be very happy gratifying such a friend." 
 
 How much of her speech carried the acid of satire he 
 could not immediately determine. He only knew he 
 held a species of scepter, and that new infatuation with 
 this radiant girl was flaming his blood with desire 
 again to usurp the place of a monarch at her side. 
 
 "Are you just a little angry with me, Thurley? " 
 he inquired. " You would punish me now for the fault 
 committed in a moment of folly? " 
 
 She looked more astonished than before. " Do I ap- 
 pear so like some horrid little tyrant? " she asked. 
 " What have I done by way of punishment punish- 
 ing anyone? " 
 
 The music arose. He took her in the curve of his 
 arm and they began to dance. " Come now, little 
 girl," he murmured caressfully, " let's be candid and 
 make no pretenses with each other. We were more 
 than friends, last winter and spring. My roses and 
 chocolates were more than welcome, and the drives we 
 took, and the rest. I confess my error in passing it up, 
 and so I say let's go back to it all and forget the little 
 lapse of time." 
 
 What a hot little flame of resentment burned up in 
 her nature at his words, his assumption, his demeanor ! 
 They had been more than friends, indeed ! How readily 
 he remembered now the things once so easy to forget J 
 She could still recall his words of dismissal, at least in 
 effect : ' This sort of thing can't go on forever. . .
 
 LOST GROUND TO BE REGAINED 125 
 
 You knew all along I'd some day leave and follow my 
 career. Now let's forget it. . . . You've always been 
 a thoroughbred, and I thought of course you'd be one 
 to the end." 
 
 A score of answers rose to her lips, stinging, angry 
 speeches that his conduct had deserved. She dispelled 
 them with a smile. She had no intention of revealing 
 oldtime scars, or permitting the loss of her own invalu- 
 able self control. If war she must, the method must be 
 subtle. 
 
 " The little lapse of time ! " she repeated, with a 
 barely audible laugh. " Isn't so very long, is it? And 
 yet so many things have changed." 
 
 " But not for you and me, little sweetheart," he said, 
 in the deepest caress of his voice. " Can't you close 
 your eyes and see it all, just as it was in our wonderful 
 days last spring? " 
 
 She could have struck him for daring to employ such 
 a term of endearment. She loathed that quality within 
 him that made it possible for the man to take advan- 
 tage of the situation thus shamelessly. Yet the glance 
 she cast him was artfully modified. 
 
 " My eyes are so persistently wide open," she said. 
 " And even if I closed them the present would impinge 
 upon my vision." 
 
 A flush of something other than pleasure passed 
 across his face, while a flash shot through his eyes. 
 " Do you mean you refuse to think kindly of the 
 past?" 
 
 She felt the underlying challenge in his tone. " Oh, 
 the past is very dear to me, indeed. I think of it 
 kindly very often parts of the past, at least." 
 
 " But of me, Thurley? Are you going to forgive
 
 126 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 me, let me come to see you soon, let me try to make 
 amends for my folly, and all that sort of thing? " 
 
 " Everybody calls at Mrs. Van Kirk's," she told him 
 evasively. " I don't see why you shouldn't." 
 
 " You know what I mean," he insisted, half resent- 
 fully. " Isn't it something that I confess the mistakes 
 and foolishness I committed at commencement? " 
 
 She assumed her grave little way. " Why, yes, it's 
 very interesting to learn you made mistakes." 
 
 He was baffled for a moment and felt his impatience 
 increase. "You are dodging the issue, little girl," he 
 said, attempting a lighter demeanor. " I can under- 
 stand you are flattered by a dozen or so of these John- 
 nies dancing attendance on a pretty girl they have 
 heard and believe is a runaway Princess ; but you and 
 I know each other well enough to be able to laugh at 
 them all and enjoy a little private joke of our own. I 
 am going to call and see you. There were sacred 
 things between you and me that demand consideration." 
 
 Much of his oldtime demeanor of ownership, once 
 completely fascinating, made vibrant the murmur of 
 his voice. Much of the former light of his triumphant 
 strength was in his eyes. He held her closer, as if to 
 make her feel her helplessness and she understood his 
 attitude of mind, which was not devoid of threat. 
 
 She did not then and there determine on a method for 
 his subsequent humiliation; for alarms and uncertain- 
 ties and desire for counsel with Alice were too much on 
 her mind. She only knew that her plan for keeping 
 Alice uninformed would be a grave mistake, and in- 
 deed her one desire was to get her away to their pri- 
 vate home and unburden her mind of it all. She con- 
 jured a smile as before.
 
 LOST GROUND TO BE REGAINED 127 
 
 " You will have to make your treaty first with Mrs. 
 Van Kirk," she told him noncommittally. " She is nat- 
 urally in command." 
 
 " I will," he said. 
 
 The music stopped. 
 
 The men regathered about her. He presently sur- 
 rendered her arm and bowed himself away.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 DELAYED DECISIONS 
 
 THE remainder of the evening was, for Thurley, more 
 of a trial than a comfort. Her triumph continued; 
 but she felt its hollowness, felt that mockery dogged 
 her footsteps and that dark abysses loomed ahead. 
 
 She could not escape her besiegers, the eager swains 
 who continued, in varying manner, to convey their 
 state of heart and mind. Count Fiaschi was not in the 
 least rebuffed; at least to outward appearances. Both 
 he and Gaillard took advantage of every possible mo- 
 ment to push to her side and renew their more or less 
 invulnerable wooing. 
 
 Even the midnight supper, where at thirty daintily 
 decorated little tables the guests were assembled for re- 
 freshment, failed to reinspire the ingenuous delight with 
 which the " Princess " had entered upon the evening. 
 
 It was late, and Thurley was weary and a little de- 
 pressed, when at length she and Alice retreated from 
 the scene to be driven to their home. Both would un- 
 doubtedly have been thoroughly alarmed had they 
 known that in the street outside a man had waited all 
 the evening, spying upon their movements. 
 
 It was the same individual who, on the night of the 
 Horse Show, had exchanged a glance with the ashy 
 eyed woman before he followed them through the ave- 
 nue in a hired taxicab. He tagged them to-night like 
 
 198
 
 DELAYED DECISIONS 129 
 
 a shadow, and in front of Alice's mansion was relieved 
 by another of his ilk who would help to keep an un- 
 broken record of every movement Thurley made and 
 the visitors who came to the place. 
 
 There was no immediate retiring when Alice and her 
 protegee were finally alone. To Fiaschi had been 
 granted the privilege of riding with them to the door. 
 Thurley had managed to avoid actual contact with the 
 nobleman ; but something in her conduct and silence 
 while in the carriage had addressed itself to Alice Van 
 Kirk's intuitions and aroused her curiosity. She fol- 
 lowed Thurley to the girl's boudoir for a confidential 
 chat. 
 
 " Well, Deary," she said in genuine affection, as she 
 seated herself at ease, after having temporarily dis- 
 missed the maids, " another joy and trial over. You 
 made me very proud and happy. You enjoyed it, I 
 hope? It was easily all your evening." 
 
 Thurley was pulling off her gloves. She sank in a 
 chair and looked at Alice just a little wistfully, her 
 dark brows slightly raised in youthful query. " Must 
 I say I did to please you? For I would I'd say 
 anything to give you pleasure," she replied. " I did 
 enjoy it at first, more than any experience in my life, 
 and then " 
 
 She did not finish, and Alice waited, her intuitions 
 receiving prompt confirmation. " And then, Deary 
 what?" she inquired softly. "You know I felt that 
 something had marred it just a little." 
 
 " Two things," said Thurley candidly. " I've been 
 dying for the last two or three hours to get you away 
 and tell you all about it." 
 
 Alice settled farther in the chair. The color
 
 130 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 mounted to Thurley's cheeks as she found herself thus 
 committed, and the task of confessing harder to face 
 than she had previously expected. 
 
 "Something disagreeable?" Alice encouraged. 
 " You needn't mind telling me, you know. We're good 
 friends, no matter what may happen." Sudden alarm 
 possessed her. " It isn't that some hot headed man has 
 already proposed and you've " 
 
 " Oh, Lordy, no ! " Thurley interrupted, instantly 
 placed at her ease. " It wasn't so decent as that, on 
 the part of the Count, though I don't pretend to know 
 his final intentions." 
 
 Alice sat up more rigidly. " Oh ! The Count 
 has" 
 
 Thurley suddenly rose and dashed a tear of anger 
 from her eyes. " He kissed me he dared to do that 
 out in the fernery ! I could have killed him ! " 
 
 Her indignation required no protestation. It was 
 advertised in all her attitude as she turned from her 
 protector to hide the crimson of her face. 
 
 Alice could make no immediate reply. She was an- 
 gered, exasperated, and thoroughly undecided as to 
 what she ought to do. 
 
 " It was bad enough," Thurley continued, " to have 
 him talk nothing but his nonsense ! And to dare to face 
 me afterward and even come home with us too ! 
 The horrid beast ! " 
 
 "In the fernery?" said Alice. "What did you 
 do?" 
 
 "I hardly know," said Thurley, and related her 
 somewhat confused remembrance of the incidents as 
 they happened. "I must have struck him, or some- 
 thing; for he nearly fell. Then I begged Robley
 
 DELAYED DECISIONS 131 
 
 Stuyverant to take me away." She halted there, with 
 a new flush of color creeping to her cheeks, at the mem- 
 ory of seeing Gaillard in the door. 
 
 Alice tapped the floor with a small, impatient slip- 
 per. " This is really too bad," she answered pres- 
 ently. " I need the Count so badly, just at this time. 
 Mind you, Deary, I shouldn't care how severely you 
 punish him, or humiliate him later, if only we could man- 
 age to keep him on for a time, in spite of what he has 
 done." 
 
 Thurley stared at her in honest amazement. " You 
 wish me to see him, endure him, after this? " 
 
 " I know exactly how you feel, my dear, and I ad- 
 mire you for it," Alice answered ; " but our position is 
 peculiar. It may last a brief time only, this triumph. 
 For many reasons I did very much desire to treat the 
 Count rather well, as well as the others, at least, and 
 now I'm annoyed more than I can tell. The miserable 
 I knew it I felt he was quite that sort. Thur- 
 ley, isn't it finer art, more gratification in the end, to 
 let him return for his meed of deliberate retribution? 
 Couldn't you skewer him far more satisfactorily by 
 calm intent than by mere impulsive resentment? " 
 
 " Oh, I've thought of that," Thurley confessed in 
 her usual candor, resuming her seat a little wearily. 
 " I've thought of so many things to-night. You see, 
 he isn't all." 
 
 In her agitation Alice had momentarily forgotten 
 Thurley's statement that two events had marred the 
 pleasure of the evening. " Oh," she said. " Yes, 
 there's something more. Not so bad as this, I trust? " 
 
 Thurley was once again all courage and honesty. 
 
 " I'm not so sure. It may be worse. You remember
 
 132 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 meeting Mr. Gaillard? " Alice nodded, and she con- 
 tinued. " He knew me in New Haven. He was even 
 my At least I thought he intended- He threw 
 me over, in plain English, and now now he wants to 
 make love to me again." 
 
 Alice stared, all but speechless. " Thurley ! And 
 you like him still ? " 
 
 Thurley rose again, superbly active. " I hate him ! 
 To think he'd come like this now and dare ! Oh, 
 it does seem as if I've got a right to make him suff er ! " 
 
 Alice rose too. " This is certainly grave. He men- 
 tioned your present position, asked questions, I pre- 
 sume? He isn't positively the cad to take advantage 
 of his knowledge ! " 
 
 " I don't know," said Thurley, once more relapsing 
 into her chair. " He hinted at things, and of course 
 asked questions and made insinuations. He insisted on 
 coming to see me, going back to our old relationship, 
 and said he'd make his treaty with you." 
 
 "And you?" said Alice. "You were careful, of 
 course, noncommittal? You didn't leave him offended 
 or vengeful ? " 
 
 Thurley's eyes flashed warringly. " No ! I almost 
 determined to do everything in my power to lead him 
 on, and then later even up the score; but he made me 
 so angry I don't know whether I could really do it or 
 not. I'd probably despise myself. I'd rather not try. 
 I don't know what to do." 
 
 Alice smiled in sheer relief. She was suddenly sure 
 of the future. 
 
 " Don't try to decide anything to-night, my dear, 
 and don't be uneasy, or angered, or anything but 
 amused at least for the present. It's time we re-
 
 DELAYED DECISIONS 133 
 
 tired. Don't forget, dear Princess, that you are cer- 
 tain to be the target for all of Cupid's arrows, the bit- 
 ter with the sweet. It is sometimes possible to fight 
 fire only with fire, and some kinds of love with art." 
 She kissed the tired girl affectionately and smiled reas- 
 suringly. 
 
 " But," said Thurley, " when he comes to see you 
 what will you do? " 
 
 " Nothing you will refuse to ratify ; nothing the sit- 
 uation does not justify, either with him or Fiaschi. 
 But I hope, dear child, we're the equal of two selfish 
 men. Will you leave it all to me? " 
 
 " My fairy godmother ! " said Thurley smilingly. 
 " What else could I possibly do? "
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THREATS AND CARRIAGES 
 
 GAILLARD called the following afternoon, and met such 
 a radiant welcome on the part of Alice Van Kirk as not 
 even his largest assurance would have ventured to pre- 
 dict. Thurley he did not see. At Alice's counsel the 
 " Princess " had accepted an invitaton to drive with 
 Willie Stetson and his mother in the park. Willie 
 was expected almost momentarily. 
 
 Gaillard looked well. He was well and confident and 
 determined, having happened upon added information 
 since the ball concerning the favor and feverish regard 
 in which " Princess " Thurley was held, especially by 
 eager male admirers. 
 
 Quite as well satisfied to interview Alice alone, as a 
 sort of preliminary maneuver in his game, the visitor 
 readily followed to her lavender nookery and agreed to 
 drink a cup of tea. " I told you last night I hoped to 
 call," he said. " You see, I have not delayed in prov- 
 ing my friendly intentions." 
 
 " I'm so glad ! " said Alice graciously. " I can 
 scarcely understand how it happened we never met be- 
 fore." She knew his antecedents, and the wealth and 
 pedigree they had boasted for three generations. 
 
 " I have been in New York but little," he confessed, 
 especially during the last few years. Of course I have 
 heard your name a great many times recently, coupled 
 with that of your beautiful protegee." 
 
 134
 
 THREATS AND CARRIAGES 135 
 
 Alice mentally acknowledged the promptness with 
 which he swung about to the subject uppermost in his 
 thoughts. " One hears so many things in these days of 
 wireless ! " she laughed. " It ought to be called the 
 Wireless Age or perhaps the Regardless Age would 
 be more accurate." 
 
 Gaillard nodded in a quick, curt way which Thurley 
 would have recognized as a sign of impatience to 
 achieve some object sought with the greatest possible 
 expedition. " I was very agreeably surprised," he 
 stated, " to encounter Thurley again last night at the 
 dance." 
 
 Alice, hardly less than Thurley herself, resented his 
 tone and familiarity. She arched her brows. " Thur- 
 ley?" 
 
 " Miss Ruxton," he corrected, slightly flushing. 
 " She may not have told you we are well, old ac- 
 quaintances." 
 
 Alice had decided to reveal as little as circumstances 
 might permit. " She was very tired last night when 
 we returned." 
 
 Gaillard narrowed his eyes. The matter in hand 
 was one of business with him, and he meant to be suf- 
 ficiently plain. " I knew her very well more than 
 ordinarily well in New Haven." 
 
 " Oh." Alice betrayed not the slightest emotion, 
 and not a very pronounced interest. 
 
 " You can imagine my surprise and delight, my 
 amusement, I might say," he resumed, " to learn the 
 extraordinary misidentification of Thurley that all 
 New York seems so agreed upon. Rich, isn't it ? " 
 
 " You mean the outcome of her remarkable resem- 
 blance to "
 
 136 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " This Princess Thirvinia business, certainly," he 
 supplied. " It's a wonderful joke, a stupendous joke, 
 that the swell set is playing on itself. Not that Thur- 
 ley doesn't look the part, and all that sort of thing. 
 She's a wonderful little girl; no one knows it better 
 than I. But what would happen, I wonder, if the 
 truth should happen to leak? " He laughed, and she 
 thought his mirth distinctly disagreeable. 
 
 " You are aware, I hope," she answered, " that 
 neither Miss Ruxton nor myself has ever contributed 
 anything to what you term this stupendous joke?" 
 
 " That's the beauty of it, the art," he stated baldly. 
 " I recognized that at once. But wouldn't it jar all 
 upper-crustdom to wake up some morning to the 
 facts ? " He laughed again, adding, " Not that it's 
 likely they will." 
 
 His dwelling upon this possibility jarred upon Alice 
 sufficiently to rouse all her sense of distrust and dis- 
 like. It sounded too much in the nature of a menace, 
 a father to his thought, if not a pronouncement of his 
 power. She wished to sound him thoroughly. 
 
 " Would it necessarily disturb our friends to lose one 
 Princess and discover another? They might even re- 
 joice to find she was not of the foreign nobility." 
 
 " Oh, that part of it, of course," he admitted bluntly ; 
 " but they might discover she was once just a pretty 
 girl in New Haven tutoring, and living a very humble 
 life. Not that anything of the sort would make the 
 slightest difference to anyone like myself," he hastened 
 to add; " but to others would the joke be quite as pal- 
 atable? Of course they may never find it out." 
 
 Mentally Alice branded him a cad whom not even 
 youth could excuse. Outwardly she was still all 
 smiles and entertainment. " Of what possible advan-
 
 THREATS AND CARRIAGES 137 
 
 tage could it be, I wonder," she said, " for anyone who 
 chanced to know all this to advertise the facts? " 
 
 " Oh, none whatever ! " he assured her with alacrity. 
 " It's just odd that I should be the only one to know. 
 It heightens my interest in the game, doesn't it? I 
 feel toward Thurley as none of these Johnnies could." 
 
 " And she feels the same toward you? " He had the 
 grace to flush a trifle in momentary confusion. 
 
 " She did she may I not be permitted a little 
 modesty? " 
 
 " As much as you like," she answered heartily, glad 
 to know he had at least a speaking acquaintance with 
 the word. " Pardon my question. It was probably 
 unfair, but prompted by my interest in you both." 
 
 " We shall be good friends," he answered confidently. 
 " I naturally expect to see rather a lot of the little 
 girl." 
 
 A clatter of hoofs, as of a cavalcade, intruded itself 
 through the window, followed almost at once by silence. 
 
 Then a footman appeared at the open door and en- 
 gaged the attention of his mistress. She crossed to 
 him at once. 
 
 " Mr. Stetson, Madam, if you please," announced the 
 servant quietly. " Shall I speak to Miss Thurley, 
 Madam?" 
 
 " At once, James." She smiled back at Gaillard. 
 " You will excuse me just a moment? " and she hastened 
 to the reception room, where Stetson was waiting, as 
 blushing and self conscious as a girl. 
 
 " Oh, here you are, Alice ! " he said, attempting to 
 
 laugh away his nervousness. " You see, I didn't know, 
 
 of course, what carriage Miss Thurley might prefer; 
 
 so I brought them all." 
 
 " Brought them all ! " echoed Alice, moving at once
 
 138 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 to the window and sweeping aside the filmy traceries of 
 lace. " In Heaven's name, Willie Stetson, did you 
 come to take a whole asylum for a drive? " 
 
 It appeared very much as if he had. There was a 
 very cavalcade of vehicles out by the curb, each with 
 a man in attendance. Every known and unknown con- 
 trivance on wheels was represented, carts, drags, 
 hacks, cabs, landaus, victorias, phaetons, an automo- 
 bile, everything save a baby perambulator and a wheel- 
 barrow. 
 
 " Well, she might as well have her choice, mightn't 
 she? " inquired the embarrassed Willie. " Mother, you 
 see, has no preference, really. She'd ride in anything 
 I suggested. Deuced clever little mother ! " 
 
 Mother was seated in the foremost rig at the mo- 
 ment. She was a harmless, mindless little person, im- 
 movably persuaded that the universe pivoted some- 
 where in Willie's system. 
 
 " I see," said Alice. " Your plan is at least 
 unique." 
 
 Thurley having seen the arrival of Willie's proces- 
 sion, was already coming down when James was half- 
 way to the floor above. 
 
 "What is it?" she said, as she entered the room. 
 " Oh, Mr. Stetson, how do you do? " 
 
 '* Nicely, thank you," said Willie, once more blushing 
 profusely. " Awfully jolly to see you again. I was 
 just telling Alice I brought everything around to give 
 you something of a choice. She says my plan is unique. 
 I was hoping it might seem different, not too beastly 
 commonplace." 
 
 Fhurley came to the window and cast a glance up 
 and down the imposing line. "I don't believe I quite
 
 THREATS AND CARRIAGES 139 
 
 understand," she confessed. " We couldn't ride in 
 them all." 
 
 " Why not? " asked Willie. " If we like you like, 
 'I mean. I thought we'd start in the one you prefer 
 and the others could follow behind, in case you'd like 
 to change, you know, or anything like that." 
 
 " Oh, my ! Please send them away, all but the one 
 your mother's in," said Thurley. " That is your 
 mother, I suppose? " 
 
 " That's the mater, all right ; but send them 
 away? Are you sure that's the one you prefer. If 
 you'd like any other horses put to the carriage " 
 
 " Willie, go take your drive, like a rational being ! " 
 Alice interrupted. " I never heard of anything like 
 it in my life ! " 
 
 "All right," said Willie cheerfully. "Really it 
 doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to mother 
 or me." 
 
 He went out, and, like the dismemberment of a cir- 
 cus, the vehicles started away round the corner and 
 down the avenue with the most diverting variety of 
 paces. Then Willie, mother, and Thurley disappeared, 
 the " Princess " gayly but discreetly waving to Alice, 
 still standing by the window. 
 
 " Dear girl ! " she murmured to herself, and returned 
 to the nookery and Gaillard. 
 
 He had risen, upon her retreat from the room, and 
 beheld, from the window, the departure of Thurley with 
 her friends. Piqued by a realization that others be- 
 sides himself were in daily attendance here at the 
 " royal palace," he was thoroughly determined to pur- 
 sue his advantage to the uttermost, regardless of Alice 
 Van Kirk.
 
 140 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Where were we? " Alice asked him, as she gave 
 him one of her bright, disarming smiles. " Had we 
 just about exhausted our subject?" 
 
 He could think of nothing new to say, as a matter' 
 of fact, that would not be either mere repetition or 
 something too much in the nature of a threat to be ju- 
 dicious. " Our subject was Thurley," he answered, at- 
 tempting a smile of his own. " Such a subject could 
 scarcely be exhausted in an afternoon." 
 
 " Ah, yes and your past relationship, or some- 
 thing of the sort. Was that not finished either? " 
 
 Gaillard was not entirely persuaded as to the full 
 significance of her question. He concluded to be on 
 the safer side. He drew back the corners of his mouth 
 peculiarly. It was not a very pleasant expression. 
 
 " The relation has never been finished," he answered 
 incisively. " It has really just begun." 
 
 It was a bold speech, almost defiantly delivered. 
 Alice accepted its challenge mentally with a certain 
 zest that heightened her color. 
 
 " Oh. Well, of course that, after all, is a matter 
 for you and Thurley alone," she answered. " It was 
 not your intention to enlist my services in your behalf, 
 naturally ? " 
 
 It was rather a blunt question, one calculated to 
 uncover his batteries, so to speak. He recognized its 
 nature. " Why, no, not precisely ; but, standing as 
 you do, somewhat as Thurley's sponsor, promoter, 
 friend, you can see that the least I could do was to 
 make the matter plain to you as soon as possible, let 
 you know evert/thing about it." 
 
 The joker lay in his emphasis on the one word " every- 
 thing," as Alice readily divined. What he meant to 
 convey was simply that he wished her to know without
 
 THREATS AND CARRIAGES 
 
 delay that his power was great and he meant to em- 
 ploy it to any required extent; that he would not be 
 blocked by herself, her plans, or even by Thurley her- 
 self. 
 
 " I am very glad you came for this revealing chat," 
 she told him, smiling as she rose from her chair. " It 
 clears things wonderfully always to be perfectly frank." 
 
 He too rose, aware the interview was ended. Her 
 baffling inscrutability, which he felt and a little com- 
 prehended, annoyed him excessively. Her apparent 
 candor and acquiescence veiled so much, and left him 
 so little with which to contend or struggle. He had 
 come prepared for open war, if need be; he found his 
 heavy artillery useless. But one thing more he did in- 
 tend, that Alice should know he meant to see Thurley 
 often, take her out publicly, and exhibit to the world 
 his particular favor in her sight. 
 
 " Now that I am back, with considerable leisure," he 
 said, " I shall arrange quite a program for the little 
 girl. I have seen her so little for the last few months 
 that there's a good deal of time to make up. I may 
 come around in fact, I shall come around to-mor- 
 row with my car; unless, of course, you and Thurley 
 have some particular engagement." 
 
 His assumption of mastership in the situation all but 
 took Alice's breath. It was almost admirable. It 
 aroused her ire and amusement together. She thought 
 she foresaw the means of his own undoing by its own 
 very weight and persistence. 
 
 " Why, yes, by all means come to-morrow," she said. 
 " It will be a great pleasure for us all." 
 
 He thanked her, shook her proffered hand, and was 
 presently gone, still wondering just what her manner 
 signified and how far she would aid or oppose him.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 AN IMPERIAL VISITOR 
 
 THE following noon Gaillard received a note that Alice 
 had hastily scrawled : 
 
 Yesterday I quite forgot that this was my afternoon at 
 home. Forgive me and come. We shall expect you; do 
 not disappoint us. 
 
 This was signed " Cordially yours." There was 
 nothing to do but go. Gaillard went and found 
 himself obliged to share the " Princess " with more 
 than the usual number of men, among whom was the 
 Count. 
 
 Acton was not at all pleased to find Fiaschi present 
 and obviously pursuing his one " great game " in his 
 periodically eruptive manner. Gaillard and the Count 
 were Continental acquaintances. They were, in a man- 
 ner, friends. Their relationship was more in some 
 ways and less in others than one of mere friendliness, 
 since in a deal concerned with foreign securities they 
 were intimately bound together. 
 
 The matter involved tremendous sums of money. It 
 was planned to involve much more, which should pres- 
 ently materialize as " velvet," in which they would 
 share alike. It was all necessarily a secret enterprise, 
 the negotiations for which were being conducted daily 
 as the various phases of a huge flotation developed. 
 Up to the present moment these two men, varying widely 
 in many attributes, had met with complete accord, so 
 far as matters of a purely business nature were con- 
 
 1 2
 
 AN IMPERIAL VISITOR 143 
 
 earned. Beyond that point, and more chiefly concern- 
 ing affairs of a sentimental nature, they were quite at 
 variance, neither one admiring or desiring to adopt the 
 methods of the other. 
 
 To find Fiaschi here, and obviously not a new recruit 
 at Thurley's court, but even somewhat in apparent 
 favor, at least with Alice Van Kirk, was distinctly dis- 
 tasteful to the college man who had once made college 
 widows. He meant to brook no interference by such a 
 being as the Count, no matter what expedients might 
 be found necessary for his elimination from the drama. 
 
 The Count, for his part, frankly despised Gaillard's 
 methods with women, and, secretly sneering also at some 
 of his business tactics, concerned himself but little with 
 a rival whom he felt to be essentially weak in fervor, 
 poetry, and the glamor of the game. 
 
 On the other side of the complex situation were ranged 
 two dimpled women, with never an armament bristling 
 in view. They had come to understanding and agree- 
 ment with the utmost ease. Thurley, from having half 
 decided that Fiaschi and Gaillard should both be pun- 
 ished through their own devices, had readily succumbed 
 to Alice's added resentment, and consented to her plan. 
 It was simply to permit these men to feel as much en- 
 couraged as they pleased and let them await the hour 
 for their own reward to overtake them. To fight with 
 either would be folly of the most destructive sort, and 
 inartistic. Alice was thoroughly esthetic in her ad- 
 herence and devotion to art. As a feminine technician, 
 moreover, she was unexcelled. 
 
 The battle of unseen forces began that afternoon. 
 Not only did Alice and Thurley assume new tactical 
 positions, but Gaillard and Fiaschi cleared their decks
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 for action, one against the other; while Stuyverant, 
 Stetson, Algy Dearborn, Kelsey Woods, Beau Brym- 
 mer, Captain Fowler, and nearly a dozen lesser lumi- 
 naries took careful account of the enemies' strength and 
 position, and planned for or groped toward some more 
 or less definite campaign. 
 
 At the present moment the tuneful Algy was quite 
 at the fore of the firing line and was gleefully discharg- 
 ing the weapons he felt convinced were most certain to 
 achieve victory over all who might engage. 
 
 " You know it's wonderful, really," he announced to 
 
 Thurley, " the effect you have on my creative ability 
 
 stirring up the muse ! You're oats and barley and 
 
 all that sort of thing, you know, to my Pegasus. Real 
 
 jolly of you, too. I told you a new one was working up 
 
 another of my poems. I fancy it's a bit original. 
 
 Shall I give it to you? " 
 
 " I should be sorry to miss anything in creation," 
 Thurley answered, genuinely amused by Algy's mani- 
 festation of genius. " Is it very long? " 
 
 " That's the deuce of it ! " Algy confessed. " I can't 
 seem to keep up the white heat the pressure, you 
 know for very long at a time. All my poems are 
 short, so far, though some have a sort of epic swing, I 
 rather fancy. This one goes if I can remember it 
 straight- Oh, er yes. It starts off ' I say.' It's 
 really all in quotation marks. You might keep that in 
 mind. It goes like this: 
 
 ' I say/ said the hare to the tortoise, 
 ' How comes it that persons import us 
 
 To run in a race 
 
 If they mean to efface 
 And in soup and in ragouts to thwart us ? '
 
 AN IMPERIAL VISITOR 145 
 
 The humorous vein, you see. Neat, isn't it? And con- 
 tains such a lot ! I like that line, * And in soup and 
 in ragouts,' and so forth. And after all, there's phi- 
 losophy in it. I'm glad it amuses you, really." 
 
 It did, almost as much as he did himself. Thurley 
 enjoyed both limerick and Algy thoroughly. They 
 were such a relief from some of the men and affairs too 
 insistently serious ; " I hope your genius will flourish," 
 she told him honestly. " Thank you so much for let- 
 ting me be oats and barley to Pegasus dear old 
 Pegasus, the many-gaited! What endurance some 
 creatures have ! " 
 
 " Really I never ride him overtime," said Algy 
 gravely. " You know ' a merciful man ' and the rest 
 of it. Better keep him fresh, I say, if one doesn't 
 wish to become a cropper." 
 
 Alice broke his spell relentlessly, as one who knows 
 the necessity of rotating the crops, as it were. Thur- 
 ley was presently listening to and even smiling at the 
 utterances of Count Fiaschi, as if nothing in the world 
 had ever happened. Later it was Gaillard, in a some- 
 what sullen, wholly selfish, and exacting mood, that she 
 calmed and soothed with softened word and smile. 
 
 With something inherently skillful, as well as naive, 
 she contrived to impress upon each and everyone of 
 her envious and watchful suitors the conviction that he, 
 above all others, had been favored, inducted into a lit- 
 tle private corner of her real regard, and pedestaled 
 all by himself. 
 
 Indeed, that afternoon became typical of the days 
 and maneuvers to follow. The game developed all 
 manner of mild excitements and vast necessity for skill, 
 adroitness, and tact. To adjust her hours, moods, and
 
 146 THTJRLEY RUXTON 
 
 movements to the needs of the game, avoiding collisions 
 of the pieces on the board, and keeping them all in active 
 play, yet never overplayed, to the essential neglect of 
 others, demanded all the judgment, good nature, and 
 finesse of which both Thurley and Alice were capable. 
 
 A chase could have been no more exciting. Merely 
 to allay the suspicions constantly preying upon both 
 Gaillard and Fiaschi required breathless fencing, quite 
 absorbing in itself. But the more they exacted, the 
 more grew the zest with which Thurley entered the con- 
 flict. The engagements increased in intensity day by 
 day, as the men's impatience and new demands were 
 multiplied; yet, even while they arrogated powers and 
 assurance to themselves, more strong grew Thurley's 
 resentment of their attitude and greater was her desire 
 to see them leveled. 
 
 During all this season of uncertainty, evasions, and 
 " back firing on dangerous love," as Alice termed the 
 game, there were two persistent elements that gnawed 
 just a bit at Thurley's heart. One was a certain in- 
 creasing anxiety and dubiety attacking Robley Stuy- 
 verant, as he watched her movements and seemingly 
 heartless democracy with all these admiring men; the 
 other was a series of pangs and anger excited in the 
 breast of little Mildred Gray. 
 
 There was nothing emphatic to be done at such a 
 juncture to allay the emotions of either. Robley, 
 grown singularly isolated from the others, not only by 
 his behavior and sincerity, but as well by her own in- 
 creasing regard and desire for his honest comradeship, 
 Thurley could not approach with tenderness because of 
 her promises to Alice and the delicate situation hedg- 
 ing them both about. She beheld his suspicions and 
 his ardors alternate, and was helpless. She felt her-
 
 AN IMPERIAL VISITOR 147 
 
 self drawn to him day after day, yet could treat him 
 no more warmly than the men she had grown to fear 
 and despise. 
 
 It hurt her to feel that she must, perforce, be con- 
 stantly misunderstood. There was never a moment 
 when she did not wish his confidence, his trust and 
 perhaps something more, for which she began at last to 
 ache, before she even understood the yearning of her 
 soul. As one across a yawning chasm, she sent him 
 thoughts he could not read and she herself had not in- 
 terpreted to the full extent of their meaning. She 
 knew she thrilled when he came to her side; she knew 
 she lived over their first afternoon together repeatedly, 
 always in a golden haze that lifted them both above the 
 earth; but she did not realize even then how mighty 
 was the bond of love between them. 
 
 Concerning Mildred her regrets were neither so 
 poignant nor incurable. She had early resolved to put 
 this worried little being's fears at rest at the earliest 
 possible moment so far as she was able. Neverthe- 
 less, she was sensitive to anyone's dislike, and more 
 than the men's she courted her own sex's favor. 
 . This was the state of affairs at Alice's " palace " 
 for nearly a week, and then, as if the complications 
 were not already sufficient, an astonishing new element 
 was added to the little drama that centered on Thur- 
 ley's head. 
 
 It came in the person of two extraordinary German 
 individuals, on a Friday evening, just at the dinner's 
 conclusion. Only one sent in his card, which was duly 
 presented to Alice. On it was printed: 
 
 Herr Otto Wenck. 
 Beneath this was written:
 
 148 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 Desiring to see Mrs. Van Kirk and young lady styled 
 Miss Thurley 
 
 O. W v for Hertzegotha. 
 
 Alice read it to herself in bewilderment, then read it 
 aloud to Thurley. " I don't understand it in the 
 least," she said. " What could it possibly mean ? " 
 
 " Hertzegotha," repeated Thurley, suddenly a trifle 
 pale. " Alice ! It's someone from her country looking 
 for Princess Thirvinia! What shall we do?" 
 
 Alice had risen galvanically. " Good heavens ! 
 Well, I suppose it had to come," and she shrugged her 
 shoulders. " We may as well see Herr Wenck."
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 WENCK, FOR HERTZEGOTHA 
 
 THURLEY heard him as one in a dream, as he bent very 
 low above her hand and touched it with his lips. He 
 spoke in German. 
 
 " Permit me, your Highness, to present my humble 
 self, the special agent of your Highness' Imperial Gov- 
 ernment at Hertzegotha." 
 
 It seemed incredible, this fiery haired, fiery whiskered 
 being representing the land of the runaway Princess, 
 accepting herself for that erratic young personage with 
 a confidence and demeanor that left no doubt of his 
 absolute conviction that the Princess stood before him. 
 She thought of one faltering test. 
 
 " But, Mein Herr," she answered in his native 
 tongue, " I regret to say I have never seen you before." 
 
 " Ah, that is my misfortune," he told her readily. 
 " Never have I been at your court but once, when by 
 great favor of the Fates I beheld your Highness from 
 afar." 
 
 This, then, was the explanation. The resemblance 
 she doubtless bore to the Princess, known to be some- 
 where concealed in America, was sufficient to convince 
 him of her royal identity. She knew not what to do or 
 what to answer. She took half a moment in which to 
 glance at her visitor's companion. 
 
 He was one of those intensely black Teutons, with 
 a military brush of bristles on top of his head and an 
 
 149
 
 150 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 equally bristling shoe dauber prickling at his nose. 
 His expression was most severe. As a matter of fact, 
 he was thoroughly mild, and at the present moment too 
 thoroughly awed to breathe in his normal manner. 
 
 It seemed to Thurley that the joke was proceeding 
 just a trifle too far; that to go on permitting these 
 serious representatives of a serious, worried Govern- 
 ment to continue in their error was not precisely justi- 
 fiable. She wished, more than anything in the world, 
 for fifteen minutes alone with Alice. She was mentally 
 staggering like a dizzy dervish, to grasp at something 
 to say, when Alice came adroitly to the rescue. 
 
 " Herr Wenck," she said " my German is sadly at 
 fault; but I beg to suggest that this young lady, 
 making no claims to the honors you have named, at 
 least while sojourning here with me, would be infinitely 
 more pleased to have you address her as Miss Thurley 
 and to treat her only with the courtesy attaching to the 
 station of an American gentlewoman." 
 
 Thurley could have hugged her with gratitude. It 
 placed them both on a footing of making no pretense, 
 made her Americanism a factor to be expected, and 
 gave her a cue as well. They had still, however, to 
 reckon with Herr Wenck, charged with important busi- 
 ness. 
 
 " It is frequently painful," said he, bowing pro- 
 foundly, " to have a duty that one must discharge. It 
 shall be my obligation, since your Highness desires it, 
 to address you henceforth as Miss Thurley ; but to de- 
 liver my message I came, and I crave your Imperial 
 your American pardon if I feel that to persist is 
 necessary." 
 
 Thurley sat down, largely for need of support. Alice
 
 151 
 
 followed her example. The men remained standing, as 
 rigidly as soldiers. 
 
 " You have a message? " Thurley inquired, and she 
 felt how weak was the question. " I should be sorry 
 indeed to interfere in the discharge of your duties." 
 
 It was a skillful speech, claiming nothing, consenting 
 to as much as the agent of Hertzegotha chose to be- 
 lieve. 
 
 Beneath her breath Alice said, " Bravo, little girl ! 
 You're a wonder ! " 
 
 Herr Wenck appeared enormously relieved. " Your 
 graciousness is overwhelming," he told her gravely, 
 having feared for the failure of his mission. " I bear 
 the message that the imperial Government of Hertze- 
 gotha is exceedingly distressed at the unexampled dis- 
 appearance and absence of her Imperial Highness the 
 Princess Thirvinia from the Kingdom, and to beg her, 
 in all humility, to return at the earliest possible mo- 
 ment." 
 
 Thurley could have smiled, had the situation not 
 presented the gravest of phases, from the viewpoint of 
 this special agent from a Germanic principality. She 
 could see no open course but that of continuing a 
 species of candor that, if it slightly but harmlessly mis- 
 led these visitors, would at least not jeopardize Alice 
 and make her ridiculous. 
 
 " I fear I may not promise at this time to leave New 
 York or America," she said. " I trust my declaration 
 will in no way compass your discredit with your su- 
 periors." 
 
 " But," said the eager Wenck, overimportunate in 
 his worry, " if you could but realize the calamity 
 its proportions the uneasiness the fears ! Think
 
 152 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 of the many disasters that may result, should your ab- 
 sense be longer continued! Already your fiance, the 
 Grand Duke of Saxe Hertze and Heimer, has likewise 
 disappeared perhaps to cross the ocean that he may 
 find you and induce your return ! " 
 
 "I knew he had disappeared I knew I read " 
 said Thurley, checking a speech she felt might con- 
 tribute too much to the agent's uneasiness. " But 
 I do not expect to see him, I assure you I mean, I 
 am exceedingly sorry you have been occasioned so 
 much anxiety, and I wish I might relieve it; but I can- 
 not think of going to Hertzegotha." 
 
 "But not see him, if he shall arrive?" said the 
 desperately concerned Herr Wenck, horrified anew at 
 increasing disasters in the recalcitrance of the " Prin- 
 cess," whose conduct was immeasurably distressing. 
 " Is not his royal regard, the gravity of the alliance 
 If he shall not induce your return, what hope has 
 Hertzegotha ? " 
 
 Both Alice and Thurley were amply aware of his 
 mental and patriotic agony. Their sympathy could 
 scarcely have been withheld, so fearfully earnest was his 
 pain. 
 
 " He may not come," said Thurley. " Really, I 
 know nothing of his movements at all, nothing save 
 what the papers here have printed." 
 
 "We have reason to believe he is soon to arrive," 
 Herr Wenck informed her decisively. " If it is only 
 your promise I may take that you will grant him audi- 
 ence, should he present himself, I shall a little feel en- 
 couraged and much experience gratification." 
 
 Thurley glanced at Alice, who, having at first view 
 feared the danger of such a contretemps, and almost
 
 WENCK, FOR HERTZEGOTHA 153 
 
 as swiftly concluded that the Duke, should he come, 
 would be the last to divulge the facts which, of course, 
 he must instantly discover. Her nod was the slightest 
 possible gesture of the head. The eyes of Herr Wenck 
 and his companion were fixed beseechingly on Thurley. 
 
 She faced them again, a lovely flush of color creeping 
 round her throat to inundate her cheeks. " If he 
 wishes to come and see me here, perhaps he may," she 
 answered tremulously, tingling and alarmed at the 
 prospect; "but you may be disappointed by results." 
 
 " But your love of the Fatherland ! " said Wenck 
 passionately, his eyes and voice abruptly flooded with 
 tears. " Your eversung nobility of character, your 
 loyalty to all that is good and dutiful! These you 
 cannot abandon ! Some exalted purpose you are doubt- 
 less serving ; but the call of the home land, the whispers 
 of ancestors long silent in honorable graves, the 
 voice of Hertzegotha's traditions, the love of your 
 people, these these you cannot help but hear ! 
 And your heart must answer ! Turn again and 
 your longing take you home!" He broke down, and 
 Thurley and Alice were profoundly affected. His evi- 
 dent anxiety and country love were singularly poignant. 
 
 His comrade still stared straight ahead, his face gal- 
 vanically twitching. There was silence for a minute 
 which seemed tremendously protracted. 
 
 " Forgive me if I have erred ! " begged the man, con- 
 trolling his emotions by an effort. " It was my heart 
 that spoke, not my office. With your promise to see 
 your noble fiance, should he appear, I am content." 
 He advanced and, kneeling by the chair where Thur- 
 ley had suddenly risen, took her hand in both of his 
 own and once more raised it to his lips.
 
 154 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 And when they were gone, leaving visions of the pro- 
 foundest bows and a backing out at the door, Alice 
 and Thurley stood still silent and motionless, groping 
 for wits a trifle scattered. 
 
 Then a characteristic Alice-ism snapped the tension. 
 " Whew ! " she said, " the soup thickens ! " 
 
 " Alice," said Thurley, " what on earth are we going 
 to do? " 
 
 Alice smiled and shrugged her shoulders. " Wait 
 till we come to the bridge before we cross it." 
 
 " But this Grand Duke of something or other 
 would know in a minute that there was nothing royal 
 in my blood." 
 
 " I am not at all convinced of that," said Alice 
 sagely ; " but whatever he discovers, mark my word, he 
 will keep to himself." 
 
 Thurley was silent for a moment. " Poor Herr 
 Wenck ! " she finally observed. " It seems too bad to 
 let him deceive himself so utterly; but what in the 
 world could I do? Where do you suppose the real 
 Princess Thirvinia is hiding? " 
 
 " How long she will keep it up is the question that 
 bothers me," said Alice honestly. " As it is at present, 
 we are having all the fun." 
 
 "Yes," said Thurley in her philosophic wisdom, 
 " and we may have to pay all the price." 
 
 Her speech was amazingly prophetic.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 LADY BOUNTIFUL 
 
 SATURDAY morning brought Thurley a second letter 
 from her cousin. It was short and weakly scrawled; 
 but yet sufficed to arouse a deep and insistent sense of 
 shame in the breast of the generous girl. Her cousin 
 was ill and in want. She had been for a week almost 
 abandoned, too exhausted and afflicted to write, and 
 hopeless with loneliness and the barren prospect of the 
 future. She mentioned the fact that she had written 
 before ; but feared the letter had failed to reach its des- 
 tination. Should this one share a similar fate, she 
 knew not what to do. 
 
 A burning little accusation seared its way to Thur- 
 ley's heart. She had first neglected, then forgotten, 
 that first appeal, absolutely. Engrossed with the joys 
 and ecstasies of her own altered circumstances, she had 
 carelessly permitted the lodgment of a heartless dis- 
 regard of everyone else in the world, she told herself 
 severely, for which she was heartily ashamed. 
 
 She resolved to go to Edith at once, with material 
 as well as personal comfort. And then she realized the 
 danger of overdoing the role of Lady Bountiful, should 
 she dare appear in any capacity save that of another 
 fellow toiler with at most the savings of her hire. The 
 wise thing to do was to take the case to Alice. This 
 she did, and that wide hearted friend of the race was 
 immediately ready with assistance. 
 
 155
 
 156 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " You have never thrown away that suit you wore 
 while working for the Major," she said. " Just put 
 that on, and James can drive you to the Major's 
 office. I'll ask him to take you to the house where 
 your cousin lives, leaving you, of course, at the door, 
 and returning in half an hour at most to escort you 
 away again." 
 
 " But why not let me run over to the Madison Ave- 
 nue cars and go down there by myself? " said Thurley. 
 " As long as I'm just a plain American girl, why take 
 all that needless trouble? " 
 
 " Very well," said Alice : " Take as much money as 
 you like, my dear, so long as it doesn't appear unreas- 
 onable. And try to induce your cousin to leave New 
 York go to Lakewood, or Atlantic City for an 
 absolute change and rest. Tell her a friend of yours, 
 of a philanthropic turn of mind, has heard her story 
 and agreed to help you bear the expense." 
 
 A strange little feeling of impending fates attacked 
 Thurley's heart as she put away her dainty morning 
 costume, robed herself like a drab Cinderella returning 
 to her ashes, and left the gorgeous palace for an ex- 
 cursion to a part of town long since abandoned to the 
 needs of those to whom bare existence is a problem. 
 She bore two parcels in her arms, one of fruit and one 
 of flowers. Someway, she felt as if something might 
 occur whereby she would never more regain the splendid 
 realm where chance and Alice had placed her. 
 
 How much she loved this newer life could scarcely 
 have been reckoned. To surrender it now would be al- 
 most more than her eager heart could support. And yet 
 she did not hesitate to continue on her way with her 
 customary courage. She did not know that barely be-
 
 LADY BOUNTIFUL 157 
 
 hind her loitered a man whose business it was to keep 
 her in view and report her every action to the woman 
 of the ice cold eyes, seen and dreaded at the Horse 
 Show. 
 
 When she boarded the car the man had already swung 
 to the step, exciting no suspicion in her mind. He sat 
 half the car length away, apparently reading a paper, 
 but never for a second failing to keep her in the focus 
 of his vision. 
 
 When at last she rose to alight at one of the over- 
 crowded streets between 14th and 23d, the shadow de- 
 parted by the exit at the front of the car and managed 
 to let her overtake and pass him before he moved, when 
 he crossed the street and appeared to be studying the 
 numbers of the houses as he quietly followed. 
 
 When she rang at and entered the door of one of the 
 old-fashioned brownstone houses, in a room of which 
 her cousin was slowly convalescing from nervous com- 
 plications and fever, the man in the street, all eagerness 
 to inform his confederates of Thurley's whereabouts, 
 dared not for a moment leave the neighborhood, lest 
 she presently emerge from the building and be lost at 
 once to view. 
 
 Thurley found Miss Steck much reduced, yet able to 
 be up and about the house in a languid, dispirited man- 
 ner. Edith was thoroughly astonished to see her thus 
 appear, having written as before to New Haven, in the 
 absence of definite knowledge as to where her cousin 
 might be found. 
 
 " Why, Thurley ! " she cried, when the door opened, 
 admitting her rosy-cheeked visitor. " Oh, I never was 
 so glad to see anybody in all my life! " And breaking 
 down at once, she cried uncontrollably, Thurley mean-
 
 158 THUBXEY RUXTON 
 
 time having quickly advanced, to throw her arms sup- 
 portingly about her and draw, her snugly against her 
 sympathetic bosom. 
 
 " There, there ! " she said coaxingly. " You poor 
 dear girl! I just got your letter this morning. It 
 came to the office; so I asked permission to come just as 
 soon as I could." 
 
 Edith was older than herself and only girlish now in 
 her helplessness; yet to neither girl did the situation 
 seem the least incongruous, Thurley was so entirely 
 her cousin's superior. 
 
 " I didn't think I had a friend in the world," said 
 Edith, continuing weak, and shaken by the sobs of her 
 sudden relaxation from the courage with which she had 
 fought out her lonely battle. " I wrote you once be- 
 fore; but the letter must have gone astray. I saw 
 someone a little like you, and thought I'd give the world 
 just to look at you again. And then I became ill. I 
 thought I should die, and wished I might. The world 
 is so full of women that nobody needs ! But I won't 
 be lugubrious, Thurley I really won't. God bless 
 you for coming so quickly ! " 
 
 A new tide of shame swept upward from Thurley 's 
 heart, thus to be praised where she should be blamed, 
 but she sat her cousin down and kissed away her tears, 
 then started a lively fusillade of cheers and questions, 
 while tearing the paper from three giant chrysanthe- 
 mums and plunging their stems into a vase of broken 
 crockery that stood on a dingy mantel shelf. 
 
 " It's a wonder we haven't met before," she said. " I 
 began to work in a down-town office away back in the 
 early part of the summer. But a lot of the writing 
 was the sort I could do at home, and I was lonely, too,
 
 LADY BOUNTIFUL 159 
 
 and trying to save my salary as much as possible; so 
 I didn't attempt to go out very much. And New York 
 is a great big place, anyway, and horrid, some parts 
 of it. And you've got to promise me right this minute 
 you'll go down to Lakewood or Atlantic City; for a 
 lady I know insisted upon it the very first thing, when 
 I told her about you this morning, and I've brought 
 you the money to pay all expenses for six or eight weeks 
 or more." 
 
 Edith sat up and stared. " Thurley Ruxton," she 
 gasped, " what in the world are you talking about, I'd 
 like to know? I? Go away like that? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Thurley. " Don't you want to? " 
 
 Edith almost collapsed upon her breast in happiness 
 and the sudden vanishment of struggle. She cried 
 again ; but softly now, and in a manner to comfort her 
 being. " You're taking your own precious money ! " 
 she said. " If you are, you sha'n't ! I'll never budge 
 a step ; for I know how hard it is to earn ! " 
 
 " I'm not," said Thurley, who had never felt a sense 
 of actual ownership in the fortune placed at her order 
 in the bank. " If you don't accept this off er cheerfully 
 and bravely, recognizing one woman's right in helping 
 another, I shall be ashamed ever to ask the giver again, 
 and you don't know what you may spoil for other 
 girls." 
 
 " It seems too good to be true," said Edith, attempt- 
 ing a wistful smile. " What good would it do if I took 
 your earnings, Thurley, and then later on you should 
 be in this condition yourself? " She waved her hand 
 weakly to indicate the shabbiness of the apartment. 
 
 " We'll not talk about that," was Thurley's answer. 
 " I've been halfway promised that you shall have an
 
 160 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 easy position at a decent salary, whenever you're well 
 enough to come back to New York and accept it. But 
 the very first thing is to get you out of here and off, 
 where the change will be complete. If you think you 
 can go this afternoon, the fairy godmother said she'd 
 send round a carriage to drive you to the station. I'll 
 send you in a number of things she said you'd better 
 have." 
 
 Again Edith stared in wan incredulity, her hollow 
 eyes big with astonishment. " Why but think of the 
 money all that means ! " she exclaimed. " How does it 
 happen? How did you find her? Think of the trust 
 she must have in Thurley, she must love you, I'm 
 sure, love you dearly, as everyone does you've ever 
 known ! Perhaps you can't tell me much about her 
 they so rarely wish to be known. But, oh, I think it's 
 beautiful to be loved as they all love you ! " 
 
 Thurley remained for about two hours, and departed 
 then at Edith's reiterated wish. The girl who had 
 found the world so hard was oversolicitous lest her 
 cousin abuse the privilege granted by some generous em- 
 ployer who had released her for the morning. Recur- 
 rent waves of conscious guilt at her inability to be abso- 
 lutely frank and honest a little marred Thurley's pleas- 
 ure and gnawed rather deep, especially at her cousin's 
 appreciation of all she was attempting at last to do. 
 Nevertheless, the affection she bestowed was genuine, as 
 her sympathy was true, and when she had gone she was 
 happier by far than for any day since Edith's first 
 letter had come. 
 
 With lavish hand and a purse of magic resourceful- 
 ness she ordered outfits to be sent to the house that had 
 ^arbored care. She was followed persistently, wherever
 
 LADY BOUNTIFUL 161 
 
 she traveled, by the man who had hung upon her trail. 
 When at length she went home, a tired, gleeful little 
 person, with at least the heart of a happy Princess in 
 her bosom, the man was tremendously relieved. He 
 hastened away at once, to report the unusual occur- 
 rences which supplied the first hope to a little clique of 
 beings abnormally engrossed in the movements and do- 
 ings of Alice Van Kirk's protegee. 
 
 Edith departed in the afternoon ; but not before a rep- 
 resentative delegated by the clique in question had made 
 an excuse to call, offer further aid and friendship, and 
 thereby secure in Thurley's cousin a possible agent for 
 future exploitation. A woman, wholly unknown to Miss 
 Steck, was then instructed to follow the girl to Lake- 
 wood, whither she was going, and remain there, keeping 
 her constantly in view and if possible gain her trust and 
 friendship. 
 
 Edith had agreed to write to her cousin at Major 
 Phipps's address and thereby hangs a tale. Alice, 
 having for some unknown reason undergone a certain 
 worry in Thurley's absence, was not only inordinately 
 pleased to see her return in such excellent spirits, but 
 was likewise thoroughly glad that Edith Steck was to 
 
 g- 
 
 " She must rest for at least two months," she said 
 
 at the end of Thurley's story. " New York and she are 
 better far apart. She might even secure a nice position 
 down there in the pines. I think perhaps she will." 
 
 She made a note of the possibility, which thereupon 
 became a highly probable development, when the mo- 
 ment should advise that Edith Steck had better be de- 
 tained away from the Kingdom of Princess Thirvinia.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE SOUP THICKENS MORE 
 
 THE next few days developed a number of factors, ex- 
 citements, and skirmishes leading toward things cli- 
 macteric. 
 
 Thurley and Alice had never been so completely en- 
 grossed with social functions and diversions. On two 
 successive nights they attended the opera, both occa- 
 sions being notable for brilliance and increasing furore 
 of the socially elect over the many appearances of the 
 " Princess," the persistence with which Alice Van Kirk 
 evaded any and all allusions to her guest's identity, 
 and the unanimous infatuation of all the men permitted 
 to come within her circle. 
 
 Annoyances by the daily press, sufficiently persist- 
 ent from the first, were rapidly multiplied as reporters, 
 camera demons, and ridiculous rumors hung upon Thur- 
 ley's movements night and day. 
 
 Despite it all, she rode her horse three mornings, 
 fairly early, accompanied by her groom on two ex- 
 cursions. The hour she chose was one in which the park 
 was practically deserted by the smarter set, who fre- 
 quently ride for display. But the newspaper men 
 were on hand the second morning, while on the third 
 Kelsey Wood " accidentally " appeared in the saddle 
 path, galloped to her side, and improved the opportunity 
 for which he had longed with a cheer she could not have 
 discouraged. 
 
 162
 
 THE SOUP THICKENS MORE 163 
 
 The news of Wood's clever maneuver came duly to the 
 ears of Thurley's other suitors and aroused a storm of 
 jealousy and counter scheming. Fiaschi was irritated, 
 Gaillard was particularly incensed. The Count was no 
 rider, but feared and hated horses ; while the college man 
 felt that his special license, granting him exclusive 
 rights, had been unwarrantably violated. 
 
 The tact and diplomacy of both Alice and Thurley 
 were taxed to the utmost to maintain an armistice and 
 avert internecine strife. Almost like apportionments 
 of pie, the hours of Thurley's day and evening were 
 sliced and awarded to her clamorous swains, to keep 
 them from ravening starvation. To Fiaschi fell a night 
 with Thurley at the opera. Gaillard drove with the 
 " Princess," in her own victoria, six or eight times 
 round the park. Stuyverant came to dine at the royal 
 palace and sat with Thurley alone for nearly an hour 
 afterward. 
 
 The Count, during the long and passionate love scene 
 depicted in " Tristan und Isolde," made a murmured 
 declaration of his burning love and demanded Thur- 
 ley's hand in marriage. Gaillard, oblivious to all the 
 world of carriages and people about them, announced 
 his disgust with all her other various suitors, reminded 
 Thurley of their past relationship, and desired her con- 
 sent forthwith to an announcement of their engagement. 
 Stuyverant, alone of the three, behaved himself like a 
 rational being. 
 
 How she had parried the thrusts of the Count's 
 Vesuvian flames, or the jibes of Gaillard's resentful im- 
 patience, Thurley could scarcely have told. She only 
 knew that Fiaschi had become intolerable, the maker 
 of college widows impossible, and that neither had re-
 
 164 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ceived satisfaction, though neither had been further in- 
 censed or even made wholly hopeless or unmollified. 
 
 In such a game as she was playing, and engaged with 
 such elements as Gaillard and his business partner pre- 
 sented, such timid and gentlemanly courtiers as Stet- 
 son, the Beau, the Captain, Dearborn, and even Kelsey 
 Woods, were hopelessly distanced. Had it not been for 
 constant intercessions in their behalf on the part ot 
 Alice, these less aggressive suitors, with half a dozen 
 more of similar caliber, must have suffered all but ab- 
 solute annihilation. 
 
 Stuyverant, occupying a position unique among them 
 all, yet unaware of the sheer relief with which Thurley 
 turned to him as often as the game would permit, con- 
 tinued to be sorely puzzled by it all, while plunging 
 more and more helplessly in love with the girl to whom 
 he felt he had been guided by the Fates. 
 
 There were times when it seemed impossible to acquit 
 her of utter heartlessness, times when he felt convinced 
 that she had come to America, not to make an alliance, 
 but merely to practice arts grown weary in conquest at 
 the court of Hertzegotha. And if it should prove that 
 she was merely amusing herself with them all, himself 
 included, he could not see how beauty, graciousness, im- 
 pulsive generosity, or any other of her many bewitching 
 qualities, could sufficiently excuse her conduct. Never- 
 theless, he confessed to himself that he had rather have 
 known her even thus than never to have met her at all. 
 
 Meantime, independently of Thurley's actions or 
 wishes in the matter, Fiaschi and Gaillard were arming 
 for a bitter struggle that bore on events not yet even 
 shadowed in the day. Each, having recognized in the 
 other an insistent and tenacious rival for Thurley's final
 
 THE SOUP THICKENS MORE 165 
 
 favor, had determined to exercise any possible advan- 
 tage for his opponent's overthrow. 
 
 The difference between the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin 
 temperament was herein nicely illustrated. They were 
 business associates, working together for a common end 
 that should benefit them both. This to Gaillard was 
 entirely apart from their sentimental battle, and sacred 
 to business ethics and honor. To Fiaschi it was one 
 more element for a possible crushing of the enemy. 
 Gaillard would have felt entire justification in attack- 
 ing the Count from a moral or a physical viewpoint, 
 and leaving him with either a crippled body or a shat- 
 tered reputation, while still maintaining the strictest 
 scruples in their deal, which centered in the Street. The 
 Spanish-Italian, on the other hand, was already delib- 
 erately planning his rival's financial ruin, through 
 treachery to their business agreement. He would 
 gladly have stripped Acton Gaillard of name, honor, 
 funds, or physical prowess, and to some such end he 
 was bending all his forces, fiercely determined as he was 
 to win the object of his covetous passions. 
 
 Wednesday of that eventful week was scheduled for 
 developments disturbing and sensational. Thurley 
 returned to the avenue home at four in the afternoon 
 from a drive with Lady Honore Calthorp and Kelsey 
 Woods, expecting to dress for afternoon tea and be 
 driven to a rendezvous with Alice, that they might pro- 
 ceed together to Mrs. Ashley Duane's. 
 
 She found a note on her table, addressed in the once 
 familiar hand of Acton Gaillard. It was brief but 
 charged with significance: 
 
 You evaded my proposal and gave me no definite answer
 
 166 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 in the park. I wish to know, once for all and without 
 delay, Will you be my wife? My sort of love can endure 
 no more of this suspense and torture. With vivid mem- 
 ories of the things that have been, 
 Ever indulgently and longingly yours, 
 
 ACTON. 
 
 The threat was there, veiled, but none the less appar- 
 ent to her keen perceptive faculties, and Thurley was 
 perturbed to the depths of her girlishly timid heart. 
 
 She had hoped to postpone this too definite issue, 
 hold Gaillard away as she held the others, according 
 to her promise made to Alice. Her impulse from the 
 first had been to tell him precisely what he was and dis- 
 miss him forever from her life. She realized her help-' 
 lessness, however, and the power of his knowledge of the 
 past. She was vexed and frightened together, loathing 
 the man for attempting to take this advantage of the 
 situation, yet afraid to answer to his curt demand with 
 the scorn and indignation that he had always merited. 
 She was wholly unstrung, especially in the absence of 
 Alice, on whom she had learned to lean for the wisdom 
 and calm of her ripened worldliness. 
 
 She still stood unmoving, the letter in her hand, while 
 her maids, Annette and Sophie, were patiently awaiting 
 her pleasure to be dressed, when one of the servants 
 knocked at the door and delivered a card, which Sophie 
 received and carried at once to her mistress. 
 
 Thurley took it mechanically, glanced at the name, 
 and suddenly felt a new sensation of wonder. On the 
 card was written, in a woman's hand : 
 
 Countess Viziano y Fiaschi.
 
 THE SOUP THICKENS MORE 167 
 
 She turned to her maid, wholly unable to understand 
 the meaning of the situation. " You are sure this card 
 was for me? " 
 
 " Yes, Mam'selle." 
 
 A weight as of something ominous seemed hovering 
 oppressively in the air. A sense as of disturbing reve- 
 lations, or even menace, in this unexpected visit, took 
 possession of her mind. Who the Countess could be 
 and what the purpose of her appearance thus, were be- 
 yond her powers of conjecture. She reflected rapidly 
 that a scene might be impending, and a feverish wish 
 for Alice increased her indecision. 
 
 Flashes of intuition laid bare startling thoughts in 
 swiftly moving progression. Whence, unexpectedly, 
 came her courage, and even a desire to behold this mys- 
 terious visitor, she could not herself have determined. 
 She merely knew, abruptly, that to see this Countess 
 might even be a duty to them all. 
 
 " You may wait," she said to the expectant maids, 
 and proceeded lightly down the stairs. 
 
 A moment later she entered the reception room, and 
 a small, dark-eyed young woman, flaming both in- 
 wardly and outwardly, rose from a chair to confront 
 her.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 A SINGULAR ALLIANCE 
 
 FOR a moment Thurley and her visitor stood face to 
 face, each taking, as it were, mental measurement of the 
 other. 
 
 Thurley was the first to speak. " You wished to see 
 me? " 
 
 The breath of the Countess was coming rapidly, as 
 the agitated rise and fall of her bosom sufficiently ad- 
 vertised. She spoke in French. " You are Princess 
 Thirvinia, known here in New York as Miss Thurley? " 
 
 " I am known here in New York, as Miss Thurley, 
 certainly. Do you not speak English? " Thurley an- 
 swered. " Will you not be seated and state your er- 
 rand with me as promptly as possible? " 
 
 The young woman made no response to either query. 
 She stared at the " Princess " wdth blazing, resent- 
 ful eyes, while her color disappeared, robbing her face 
 of something suggestive of damask smoothness, bloom, 
 and texture. She was on the whole a striking little 
 person, with a piquant attractiveness that was empha- 
 sized by a nose slightly retrousse and a vivid bit of coral 
 mouth. 
 
 " You are very beautiful ! " she said, as if reluctantly 
 admitting an inescapable fact, or even making an accu- 
 sation. " What right have you to follow my husband 
 to America? He is my husband, and you shall not en- 
 tice him away ! " 
 
 168
 
 A SINGULAR ALLIANCE 169 
 
 Thurley elevated her brows. " Who is he, then? If 
 you refer to Count Fiaschi " 
 
 " You know I refer to Count Fiaschi ! " interrupted 
 the fiery little parcel of Gallicism. " Do you think 
 Countess Fiaschi shall be his mother? Do I look like 
 that ? He shall be my husband all ! He is not to be 
 shared with any German Princess ! You will find I am 
 not so small in my rights ! " 
 
 Thurley was far from being awed. She might have 
 been near to amusement, had not the affair partaken 
 of too much gravity. " I have no wish to share your 
 husband," she said. " I was not aware he had a wife, 
 nor have I followed anyone here from Europe." 
 
 Magnificent scorn was massed upon the piquant little 
 face. " Ah ! When all this land is talking of his mad- 
 ness for yourself. Perhaps you will deny you are Prin- 
 cess Thirvinia, whose golden-haired spell was cast 
 about him on the Continent ? " 
 
 " I am sorry if you do not believe what I say," said 
 Thurley quietly. " I am glad you came, glad to know 
 the Count is married, glad to tell you I despise 
 him, dislike him exceedingly, more than ever now, 
 since this reveals him in a new and unsuspected mean- 
 ness of spirit. I will give you any comfort you desire 
 so far as he is concerned." 
 
 Her visitor gazed at her almost blankly, so vast was 
 her incredulity. " Despise him any woman, despise 
 him," she said, " with his soul, his fire, his sentiment? " 
 Then she suddenly broke down and wept as pent 
 heavens sometimes weep when a storm has massed their 
 tears. " You are beautiful," she repeated ; " but I be- 
 lieve you. I want your help. I came for your assist- 
 ance ; not to accuse, to implore. I am not so beautiful
 
 170 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 as you ; but yet I love him. Perhaps this is my curse. 
 Who knows? I must love him, nevertheless! I would 
 die for his joy. He is more needful to me than my soul, 
 more to be desired than salvation ! If you do not love 
 him, tell him so, drive him away, and he will come to 
 me for the kisses he says are sweet! You will despise 
 him, Princess you will promise this ? " 
 
 "With all my heart," said Thurley honestly. 
 " Whatsoever may seem to be my attitude, you may be 
 sure I shall despise him and do all in my power to send 
 him away as soon as possible." 
 
 " It shall be soon ? " implored the thoroughly altered 
 little being. " I am his true and lawful wife, though 
 he wish to divorce me through a purchased dispensa- 
 tion." 
 
 Thurley felt a woman's sympathy welling in her 
 breast for this desperately tortured little Countess, 
 even as something akin to rage or indignation at 
 Fiaschi surged in her veins. She continued upon the 
 subject now for the gratification of both emotions. 
 
 " You were married abroad? " 
 
 " In Paris and three months later he saw you, 
 Princess ! And I have hated you till now." 
 
 " You came with him here to New York? " 
 
 " I came alone ! " declared the little being, dashing 
 away her tears of resentment at the treatment of which 
 her husband had been guilty. " He shall not know that 
 I am here till you send him away, and in his wounded 
 heart he shall wish for the soothing of my love! Per- 
 haps you will help me, let me know when you shall tell 
 him to depart." 
 
 " Perhaps I may," said Thurley. " Will you trust
 
 A SINGULAR ALLIANCE 171 
 
 me a little, give me time, believe me, though I may find 
 myself obliged to see him even frequently again? " 
 
 " If you shall not -learn to love him," said the 
 Countess, smiling wistfully, " I can wait nearly all my 
 life. I could almost wait to have him at last in Heaven ; 
 but Mary forgive me ! this life is a little more 
 sure. You will surely continue to hate him always as 
 now?" 
 
 " Perhaps even more," was Thurley's answer. " I'd 
 like to be your friend." 
 
 She offered her hand. With another burst of uncon- 
 trollable tears the little flame incarnate sank on her 
 knees as she took it and pressed it against her cheek. 
 
 " I came to hate and I must love you ! " she said. 
 " To think I can be so glad to leave all my happiness, 
 my hope, my life, in your keeping ! You will not forget, 
 I know! " She staggered to her feet and went blindly 
 groping for the door.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 A DUKE IMPENDING 
 
 THUBLEY was presently back in her room; but not to 
 be dressed for tea. She was far too disturbed by what 
 she had learned to think of anything save the necessity 
 of seeing Alice alone at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 She sat before a dressing case; but had waved her 
 maids away. She was staring idly at the fineries in- 
 tended for the afternoon. Fiaschi, she knew, would be 
 at Mrs. Ashley Duane's, and the thought of beholding 
 the man again was revolting to all her nature. 
 
 What Alice would say, or do, after this, she could 
 not venture to predict. Alice had hoped for the fel- 
 low's punishment before, yet felt a certain necessity for 
 the retention of his friendship because of invaluable so- 
 cial connections, long coveted, and already filmily estab- 
 lished through the medium he represented. But a new 
 and shameful gravity attached to this latest develop- 
 ment of the nobleman's nature and schemes, and con- 
 tinued relations with him now were fraught with highly 
 explosive possibilities. 
 
 At five o'clock Alice, a trifle disturbed by Thurley's 
 non-appearance at the Duanes', was driven home, to 
 find that the " Princess," overwrought and afflicted 
 with a slight nervous headache, had gone to lie down 
 and had readily fallen asleep. 
 
 At half past five, with the wintry darkness closing 
 down on the avenue, and all the house lights softly 
 
 172
 
 A DUKE IMPENDING 173 
 
 glowing, the third sensation scheduled for the day had 
 its formal introduction. 
 
 A messenger arrived and delivered a letter. It was 
 addressed to Madame Van Kirk and " Miss Thurley," 
 and bore a coat of arms. The messenger waited for an 
 answer. 
 
 Alice tore the envelope apart and read as follows: 
 
 Honored Madam and Honored Miss Thurley. May I 
 so bold presume myself as to inform you his Excellency 
 Karl-Wilhelm-Herman, Grand Duke of Saxe Hertze and 
 Heimer, has in New York arrived, and of an audience with 
 Miss Thurley is anxiously desiring, praying to be informed 
 on this messenger if he may not at your dwelling present 
 himself in this evening, by the hour of eight o'clock and 
 one half. Obediently your humble servant, 
 
 OTTO WENCK. 
 
 " Good Lord ! " said Alice. " And the child asleep ! " 
 
 But Thurley was presently very much awake. 
 
 The messenger had been ushered in to wait. 
 
 " To-night ! " said Thurley, to whom the situation 
 had been made intelligible through three repetitions and 
 a quick perusal of the note. " What in the world will 
 happen. What shall we say?" 
 
 " What can we do but face the music ? " Alice an- 
 swered. " We're playing a game of consequences, and 
 the penalties must be met. Personally, I like Grand 
 Dukes. It makes me wish that I were young and stand- 
 ing in your shoes. At least you'll admit, my dear, that 
 his Excellency will be a relief from some of the others 
 about us here. I only hope he isn't old ! " 
 
 Thurley was suddenly jolted back to the occurrences 
 of the afternoon. The color crept upward toward her
 
 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 forehead. " Oh, I've wanted and needed you so ! " she 
 said. " Alice, what do you think? Acton Gaillard 
 has written, demanding an announcement of his en- 
 gagement to me, and Count Fiaschi's wife was here at 
 four o'clock, charging me with having followed the hor- 
 rid creature from Europe ! " 
 
 Alice fairly gasped. " His wife? " 
 
 " There's her card." Thurley took it from the dress- 
 ing stand and placed it in Alice's half-paralyzed fin- 
 gers. " I thought at first she might stab me or some- 
 thing, she appeared so furiously excited. And now a 
 Grand Duke on the scene ! " She tried to smile ; but the 
 situation was not altogether humorous. 
 
 "Oh, well, Deary, what is the use? " said Alice, des- 
 perately resigned to anything, and shrugging her 
 shoulders with more than her customary eloquence. 
 " If it's coming upon us in landslides, why do anything 
 but grin and try to remain on top as long as possible? 
 Fiaschi the brute ! Gaillard the heavyweight 
 champion ! Karl-Wilhelm the lovelorn Viking, if he 
 isn't old and doddering, as Dukes have a habit of be- 
 coming! Oh, Virtue, where is thy sting? My dear, 
 we're in for it, both of us together ! Let's plunge ! " 
 
 Thurley looked at her helplessly. " We'd better see 
 the Duke? " 
 
 " See him and raise his ante," answered Alice reck- 
 lessly. " The Lord only knows what may happen 
 next ! It may serve our purposes tremendously to have 
 him on the string." 
 
 " But he'll know," said Thurley, smiling despite her 
 doubts and vague alarms. " We have to remember 
 that." 
 
 " Why not ignore it, my dear? "
 
 A DUKE IMPENDING 175 
 
 Thurley made a gesture of acceptance. " And after 
 that what about Acton Gaillard and the Count?" 
 
 " Oh, the Count ! We'll grill the Count when the 
 proper time arrives ! Leave him to me ! " Alice rose 
 and paced the floor in growing indignation. " He has 
 simply got to be trussed and roasted for this ! " she con- 
 tinued. " I hope you'll do everything possible 
 everything that a nice, affronted girl can do to lead 
 him to a deadfall and let me drop it on his pneumo- 
 ghastly nerve ! As for Acton did you say he dared 
 to write ? " 
 
 Thurley took the letter from a drawer and delivered 
 it silently. Alice read it twice in half a minute. " The 
 fool ! " she said. " He's trapped himself. You can do 
 as you please with Acton after this ! " 
 
 " I don't see exactly. It seemed to me his threat is 
 more obvious than before." 
 
 " But don't you discern, dear child, that this is a 
 written proposal for your hand, that after this he sim- 
 ply cannot afford to retail a story of your college 
 widowhood, and all the rest? How would it look, in 
 the light of this documentary evidence of his wish to 
 have you for a wife, for him to say, * She is nobody 
 just an ordinary, pretty girl I knew in New Haven as 
 a tutor? ' Don't you see he has spiked his own guns, 
 placed himself quite at our mercy ? " 
 
 Thurley looked at her steadily, while the truth of 
 these conclusions became a little less hazy. " I never 
 thought of that, of course. You are sure he wouldn't 
 dare begin to tell things now?" 
 
 " Acton Gaillard with his vanity ? Dear me ! 
 There's that messenger sitting down stairs all this time 
 and the poor Grand Duke somewhere fraying out his
 
 176 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 boots with impatience, tramping up and down! Oh, 
 heavens! I hope he doesn't wobble! I'll write the 
 note myself, and you can sign it with me if you wish." 
 
 In her active way she swooped down at the exquisite 
 desk that stood by the window and began at once to 
 write. 
 
 Thurley felt a recurrence of her former fever. Her 
 heartbeat quickened. " You are going to tell him to 
 come? " 
 
 " On the run," said Alice, scribbling rapidly. " I 
 wish I could set his clock ahead ! " She concluded her 
 note in the briefest time and blotting it, held it up to 
 read. " This is what I've said : 
 
 His Excellenecy will be most cordially welcome at the 
 home of Mrs. Van Kirk, at the hour of eight-thirty, by 
 Miss Thurley and Mrs. Van Kirk. Ever faithfully yours, 
 
 and so forth. Of course I get in twice to your once, 
 my dear, but only in the note. If I had the time and 
 the literary genius, I'd write it less awkwardly. Shall 
 I put in your love for Karl? " 
 
 " Yes," said Thurley, " and a garnishment of pars- 
 ley. I'm glad somebody's enjoying all the fun I'm go- 
 ing to have." 
 
 " Dear child ! " said Alice, impulsively affectionate 
 at once. " Would you have hesitated to play your 
 role had you known of all the things that were coming? " 
 ' This may be only the introduction," answered Thur- 
 ley in her girlishly prophetic manner ; " but, no matter 
 what may come, so long as I continue to please you, 
 keep a little of your present feeling of interest and 
 friendship, I shall never regret it for a moment." 
 
 " It's a feeling of love," said Alice, and she kissed 
 the girl impulsively.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 A ROYAL SUITOR 
 
 IT was half past eight. " Wait till I get my breath," 
 said Thurley, pausing with Alice on the stairs. " My 
 heart is nearly breaking through." 
 
 " So is mine," replied the fairy godmother, " for 
 fear the Duke may totter with age. An old one might 
 not understand a joke. I have given him absent treat- 
 ment for an hour to make him young." 
 
 Her treatment may and may not have been respon- 
 sible; but the Duke was young. 
 
 " Thank heaven ! " she said to herself when they en- 
 tered the room with its brilliant lights and the richness 
 of its furnishings and beheld their royal visitor, uni- 
 formed, decorated, resplendent, standing with easy 
 military grace to bow them into his presence. 
 
 He was barely more than a boy, a tall, slender 
 youngling of a long succession of Kaisers, fine featured, 
 proud, as rosy as a girl, and adorned with a dark and 
 downy mustachelet, singularly becoming in the empha- 
 sis it lent to his lip. 
 
 Instructed as to what she ought to do at once, Thur- 
 ley approached their noble visitor in her gracious, half 
 shy manner. Impelled by the dictates of her impulse, 
 she held out her hand. 
 
 The Duke had immediately raised his eyes to regard 
 her as she came. A light of amazement, a shadowy 
 
 177
 
 178 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 puzzlement, and a blaze of sheer, uncontrollable admira- 
 tion flashed in quick succession from the penetrative 
 gaze he bent upon her and Alice beheld it all. 
 
 Neither she nor Thurley had more than discerned 
 that Otto Wenck, purple with excitement and solici- 
 tude, was present, a little apart. 
 
 In the utmost candor Thurley placed her hand in 
 that of the Duke and met the concentrated scrutiny of 
 his eyes. " I am Miss Thurley," she said in German 
 that flowed from her lips as water in a rill. " May I 
 assure you of your welcome and express my pleasure at 
 our meeting? " 
 
 " You you have given me more more than you 
 may possibly derive from this happy occasion," he 
 told her in a boyish murmur, charged with grace and 
 self control; and, lifting her hand to his lips he kissed 
 it softly, then gazed as before in the liquid depths of 
 her glance. 
 
 "May I present my my fairy godmother?" said 
 Thurley, turning to Alice. " Mrs. Van Kirk." 
 
 The Duke advanced to exchange a formal salutation 
 with his hostess and to murmur some conventional 
 ritual of pleasure. Alice, thoroughly equal to the mo- 
 ment, beamed her brightest, made an engagingly Ameri- 
 can reply of welcome, and tactfully abandoned the pair 
 at once, to proceed where Wenck was still engorged 
 with official worry, to set him more at ease. 
 
 Thurley had wished for assistance, support, in her 
 trying situation. The Duke, on the contrary, seemed 
 enormously relieved to behold Alice fade to the back- 
 ground. 
 
 " It is a great surprise to find you here," he said, 
 which might have meant almost anything, as Thurley
 
 A ROYAL SUITOR 179 
 
 was amply aware. He added, " It is also a very great 
 pleasure. I could not have believed this meeting would 
 so restore my happiness." 
 
 " May I not beg you to be seated? " said Thurley. 
 She was more and more puzzled by his attitude, and 
 was swiftly wondering if such a thing could be possible 
 as self delusion on the part of such a fiance, and if, 
 mayhap, he had been engaged without previously meet- 
 ing Princess Thirvinia. She continued nervously, 
 " You arrived in New York this week? " 
 
 " To-day," said the Duke, accepting a chair and 
 gazing with ill concealed rapture on Thurley's face. 
 " I confess my impatience to see I am incredibly 
 grateful for this early opportunity of discovering 
 will you accept my declaration of very great joy at this 
 meeting ? " 
 
 Thurley reddened with exquisite fire. " It is like- 
 wise a pleasure to me," she told him candidly, still un- 
 able to determine precisely the state of his mind and 
 knowledge. " It is a greater pleasure than I had 
 We were a little prepared for your coming, by Herr 
 Wenck." * 
 
 He leaned a little toward her. " You had not an- 
 ticipated a little pleasure in my arrival, then? " 
 
 She laughed lightly, the color playing in her face as 
 the perfume plays about a rose. " Isn't it sufficient 
 that I betray my pleasure now? " 
 
 "You knew I had come a very great distance, that 
 my action was perhaps without precedent, in my an- 
 guished search for for the beautiful for the mate 
 my heart would select? " 
 
 Thurley nodded, crimsoning anew at the ardor and 
 frankness of his gaze. " I knew you were coming
 
 180 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 knew Hertzegotha is quite a long way off. I knew 
 that, of course." 
 
 " May I ask you other questions personal ques- 
 tions?" 
 
 " Why certainly if you do not require that I 
 shall answer unless I please." 
 
 He smiled. " Do I seem like that ? It is not so 
 much that I wish to ask so much to you, perhaps ; 
 but Shall you insist that I call you always ' Miss 
 Thurley ' never * Princess ' ? " 
 
 She was greatly confused. " Why, we I we 
 have desired everyone to call me Miss Thurley. Do 
 you mind? " 
 
 " Could not I alone call you Princess ? " Brightness 
 and ardor were dancing in his glance. 
 
 She was more than ever plunged in doubt as to what 
 and how much or how little he had guessed, or what 
 could be the meaning of his words. " You alone? " she 
 echoed. 
 
 " I alone Princess. You have not called me Karl." 
 
 The tide of her color swept upward in her throat 
 and cheeks till the young Duke felt his soul madly beat- 
 ing its wings. Thurley thought if he knew her for 
 other than the Princess he was quite disloyal to the ab- 
 sent lady and bold in his wooing of another. 
 
 " Why, but how could why should If you 
 called me so " 
 
 He was still leaning toward her eagerly. He inter- 
 rupted her halting, stumbling utterance. His query 
 was astonishingly frank, " Have you engaged yourself 
 to marry someone here? " 
 
 "Why no I your Excellency doesn't "
 
 A ROYAL SUITOR 181 
 
 " You will not, then ? Instead, you will think of 
 Hertzegotha as " 
 
 It was Alice who came to the rescue. With increas- 
 ing alarm and wonder she had noted the trend of the 
 young Duke's bearing and had barely restrained an 
 earlier impulse to terminate the interview. 
 
 " Oh, your Excellency," she said, as she came in all 
 innocence across the room, " how very interesting your 
 trip across the water must have been ! Herr Wenck in- 
 forms me you saw three whales and several schools of 
 porpoises or did he see them himself? " 
 
 " Yes, yes pardon," ventured the fiery faced Wenck 
 desperately from his stand where Alice had left him. 
 " It was I." 
 
 " I saw nothing," said the Duke. " I was too un- 
 happy ; but to-night " 
 
 " Some of us are very poor sailors," Alice interrupted 
 graciously. " I shouldn't be able to see anything but a 
 continent, and I'm not at all certain of that. You 
 know, in strict duty, your Excellency, I am constrained 
 to ask you our stereotyped question : ' How do you like 
 New York? ' We always ask that of persons who 
 have been five minutes ashore." 
 
 The Duke received her query with gravity. " At 
 noon I detested all America; to-night your city has 
 my love." 
 
 " Bravo ! " said Alice. " We shall hope to keep you 
 long." 
 
 The Duke was quick for one so young. " It would 
 be a great pleasure to receive your impressions of 
 Hertzegotha yours and those of Miss Thurley." 
 
 Alice smiled. "You return very soon?"
 
 182 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 The Duke glanced at Thurley, as honestly as a boy. 
 " So much depends upon circumstances over which I 
 have not entire control. May I beg, in the meantime, 
 the honor of presenting myself not infrequently here ? " 
 
 A certain naivete and directness of the Duke's re- 
 quest appealed to Alice instantly. She too was puz- 
 zled, not entirely certain of his knowledge or ignorance 
 of the facts concerning Thurley, whom she had heard 
 him address as " Princess." She did comprehend that 
 love at first sight, or something closely allied thereto, 
 had conquered his heart, if he had, as she had expected 
 he would, immediately discerned that Thurley was not 
 his fiancee. She foresaw, also, if this was the case, a 
 safeguard for her little ruse, if not a confirmation of the 
 claim New York had made concerning her protegee, and 
 that complications loomed ahead in a none too quieting 
 manner. 
 
 Alice was essentially dogged and persistent. The 
 element whereby defeat is so often accepted had been 
 forgotten in her composition. She had courage the 
 equal of Thurley's, plus a certain deliberate calmness 
 that Thurley might never acquire. She glanced dis- 
 cerningly as far ahead as uncertain lights permitted 
 now, in the second that elapsed before she answered. 
 
 " It gives me great happiness to know you wish to 
 honor us by returning to us here," she told the young 
 Duke gravely. " I am sure it will be Miss Thurley's 
 wish, as well as my own, to extend the utmost of our 
 hospitality and confess the pleasure we shall derive 
 from every such attention as this to-night." 
 
 Thurley could have gasped; but she suppressed the 
 lightest sound. It seemed to her that Alice was indeed 
 plunging into difficulties by adopting this generous
 
 A ROYAL SUITOR 183 
 
 course. Whatever the knowledge of the Duke concern- 
 ing herself and her " royal " character, she was quite 
 aware he was early manifesting symptoms that threat- 
 ened one more reckless suitor on the scene. Yet she 
 found herself obliged to admit that no other course 
 seemed open, so long as Alice adhered to the game upon 
 which they had entered. They were practically obliged 
 to see his Excellency as often as he might choose to ap- 
 pear or cut him off at once. 
 
 The Duke himself contributed a trifle more to the 
 strength of Alice's position or perhaps to Thurley's 
 predicament. He turned to the girl deliberately. 
 " And may I believe that you also, Princess, Miss 
 Thurley, share in this sentiment of welcome?" 
 
 " Why certainly," she faltered. " I shall hope to 
 see you as often as Alice as often as you care as 
 often as it gives you pleasure to please us by 
 coming." 
 
 It was not at all what she had wished to say, except 
 in its general effect. She knew it was just about what 
 Alice had expected, and saw that it lighted new beacons 
 of fire in the eyes of the youthful Duke. 
 
 Alice, for her part, aware that their royal visitor was 
 about to depart, innocently drifted at once to the lonely 
 Wenck, whose official solicitude had apparently been 
 soothed. 
 
 Karl-Wilhelm was encouragingly prompt to take ad- 
 vantage of her thoughtfulness. He held out his hand 
 and tingled mightily at the contact of Thurley's rosy 
 fingers. 
 
 " To-night it is auf wedersehen," he murmured. 
 " When I come again, Princess, will you welcome me 
 with 'Karl'?"
 
 184 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Perhaps we had better wait," said Thurley judi- 
 cially, " and let the welcome come as it may." 
 
 " If it answers my heart, I shall be content," he told 
 her in a murmur that Alice could not have heard. Then 
 he kissed her hand as he had before and was presently 
 gone on his way.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 WHAT WALLS MAY SEPARATE 
 
 ON Thursday morning, in the sunshine that broke 
 through the mist and clouds of New York Harbor, fully 
 two hours before noon, all the waterfront of Gotham 
 was astonished and mystified by the sudden appearance 
 of a sea-going yacht of extraordinary swiftness that 
 set all the shipping tongues to wagging. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the dropping of her an- 
 chor by the trim white visitor from somewhere out be- 
 yond, a rumor was started on its way to the press that 
 Emperor Wilhelm's private yacht, with some great 
 German personage aboard, perhaps even the Kaiser 
 himself, incog, had quietly slipped up abreast of the 
 New York Yacht Club moorage, after cleaving the gray 
 Atlantic in almost record time, and was said to have 
 come on an errand of state involving matters of most 
 profound importance. 
 
 Rumors are amazing. Whence they start, how they 
 travel, why they alter as they go, these are queries 
 for the probers of things psychological. 
 
 Before anything authentic could possibly be known 
 of the slender bit of steel and power from overseas, the 
 tales that had spread of her coming and her purpose con- 
 tained a germ of truth. The vessel was owned in Ger- 
 many and had frequently carried the Raiser. The per- 
 sonage aboard her this morning had come in haste on 
 matters of gravest moment to his state, and in pur- 
 
 185
 
 186 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 suing the shadow of the mighty liner that had brought 
 Karl-Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe Hertze and Heimer, to 
 American shores, had closely approached the record. 
 
 The man aboard, however, was not from Wilhelm's 
 imperial court. He came from Hertzegotha, seeking 
 the youthful Duke and the still more youthful Princess, 
 both truant from their fatherland and graying the hair 
 of the elders left behind. He was a small, iron visaged 
 being, an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipoten- 
 tiary, that traveler, none other than Baron Von Hoch- 
 haus, of the Kingdom of Hertzegotha, Captain of the 
 Cuirassier Regiment von Seydlitz, Equerry to H. R. H. 
 Grand Duke of Hesse-Stuttgart, etc., etc., grown 
 wrinkled and white of head in the service of his country. 
 
 He attracted little or no attention when he landed, the 
 curious having prepared themselves to single out some 
 giant of mere physical proportions to fulfill the ex- 
 pectations centered upon the important being of the 
 rumor. With a courier to aid and further his move- 
 ments, the servitor in question being a German familiar 
 with Manhattan, he was presently driven in a taxicab 
 to one of the smaller high class hotels between 23d and 
 4?2d streets, where he was sufficiently fortunate to sur- 
 prise and detain Otto Wenck, once more a thoroughly 
 worried individual who had " lost " the youthful Duke. 
 
 Threatened with apoplectic astonishment, thus to 
 encounter so great a person, Wenck was barely able to 
 believe his eyes when the Baron came upon him. He 
 had never been so excited or congested with news and 
 alarm in all his life. 
 
 " He is gone ! Heaven must have sent you ! " he ex- 
 claimed the moment he could gain sufficient breath to 
 credit his senses. " I am beside myself with despair ! "
 
 WHAT WALLS MAY SEPARATE 187 
 
 The Baron eyed him for a moment narrowly. " Sit 
 down, then ! " he commanded quietly. " Permit your 
 despair and your pulse to subside. By ' he,' I presume 
 you refer to the Duke He can scarcely have been here 
 more than a day. He cannot have gone very far. You 
 doubtless mean he has quitted your country. I shall 
 not therefrom judge him so far insane which has 
 been a great temptation. You will kindly compose 
 yourself sufficiently to relate to me, briefly and 
 promptly, all that has happened since you were cabled 
 to move in the matter of Princess Thirvinia." 
 
 Wenck sat down as directed. " He is not unhappy 
 his Excellency," he declared at once. " He altered 
 so soon as he had seen her." 
 
 " Is this the cart or the horse you bring me first? " 
 inquired the Baron incisively. " A detailed and chron- 
 ological statement of your actions, the results and all 
 developments, if you please, and without too great ex- 
 penditure of time ! " 
 
 With excitement not to be repressed, and with repe- 
 titions numerous and somewhat irritating to the Baron, 
 Wenck proceeded to state every minute occurrence with 
 which he had been in any manner concerned, in the 
 matter of Princess Thirvinia, dwelling in great particu- 
 larity on the visits to Thurley and Alice Van Kirk, both 
 with and without the Grand Duke. 
 
 " Last night," he concluded, " his Excellency was 
 amazingly light of heart and joyous with song. He had 
 little to say, but much to sing. He gave me no intima- 
 tion he should vanish from my watchful vision ; but this 
 morning he is gone from his quarters and I fear has, 
 with a purpose to go his own ways, somewhere en- 
 sconced himself, with perhaps an altered name."
 
 188 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 The Ambassador Plenipotentiary was somewhat 
 grimly mollified. The affair, to him, looked far more 
 promising than he and his peers of Hertzegotha had 
 supposed would be possible. Since the Duke and the 
 Princess had met and exchanged such manifestations of 
 friendship, even her declaration of intent to remain 
 away from home was a matter of minor importance. 
 
 He began at once a circumstantial examination of the 
 agent to whom had been intrusted the conduct of af- 
 fairs up to the moment when, on the Duke's disappear- 
 ance on a vessel bound for America, he himself had been 
 impressed to save the gravest situation in all the annals 
 of the court. 
 
 Meantime, by one of those strange juggleries of 
 chance, straight through on the opposite side of that 
 same block of buildings, in an old fashioned residence, 
 long since abandoned to the transient needs of a restless 
 and dubious fragment of New York's population, 
 another conference concerning Princess Thirvinia was 
 in progress. 
 
 Three persons, one of whom had just arrived, occu- 
 pied the large, dingy room, where an ancient fireplace 
 and a frescoed ceiling attested the building's past 
 grandeur. Two of the trio were men. The other was 
 that same icy eyed woman who had stared at Thurley 
 at the Horse Show. Her companions called her 
 Madame Zagorsky. She was Russian, a nihilist, so- 
 cialist, and selfist, of a type born for intrigue and ad- 
 venture. 
 
 One of them was a German, the other a Slav named 
 Pelevin. The German answered to the name of Max. 
 It was he who had followed Alice and Thurley from the 
 Garden, and had spied upon the " Princess " almost
 
 WHAT WALLS MAY SEPARATE 189 
 
 constantly since. He had just returned from Lake- 
 wood, where Edith Steck had gone, his place at the 
 avenue mansion having meantime been filled by a man 
 for whom the three were at present waiting. 
 
 Madame Zagorsky was obviously master mind and 
 master energy of all the combination. There were sev- 
 eral other agents in the group, all diligently engaged 
 with various details of the business in hand. 
 
 " If you have your breath," the woman said to Max, 
 " will you condescend to inform us what you have 
 done? " 
 
 The icy stare of her venomous eyes had frequently 
 made the German uneasy, and his gaze dropped shiftily 
 now as he panted for relief to his lungs. He had 
 walked from the ferry and climbed three flights of 
 stairs. " One moment, I tell you all," he panted. " I 
 have done well." 
 
 " So say you," said the woman. " Then has this 
 Miss Steck written at last and have you fetched her 
 letter that I may read it here? " 
 
 Max nodded. " I have the letter," and he took it 
 from his pocket, to have it promptly snatched from his 
 hand. 
 
 " An easy hand to forge," commented Madame 
 Zagorsky, tying the direction on the envelope be- 
 fore she tore the letter open, to give it a hurried 
 perusal. 
 
 "Ah! she improves in health already, does she? 
 So ! " The note was addressed to " Dear Lady Bounti- 
 ful " and signed " Your happy Edith " only. " It is 
 well we intercept this letter," continued Madame Zagor- 
 sky. " What think you, Pelevin ? Have you a better 
 plan than a letter like this to * Miss Thurley,' inform-
 
 190 THUItLEY RUXTON 
 
 ing her this Edith is robbed and very ill once more, and 
 has returned and must ask that her benefactress come 
 without delay ? " 
 
 Pelevin cleared his throat. " Any plan so that 
 she comes. If she has once responded to this woman's 
 appeal, she will doubtless respond again." 
 
 " This method is wise and safe," ventured Max, who 
 had, as he said, done well. " Let us take all possible 
 precautions ; for the business is already sufficiently 
 risky." 
 
 " It is sufficiently slow, this inactivity, this mere 
 shadowing ! " exclaimed the woman impatiently. 
 " Dare anyone suggest another delay in moving, now 
 that we have this letter for a model? " 
 
 " Jan is not yet here," said Max tentatively. " He 
 is long gone and must have something important to re- 
 port." 
 
 Madame Zagorsky snorted like a horse. " More 
 likely something important to drink ! One night yet I 
 shall strangle Jan with my hands that have so often 
 itched for the pleasure ! " 
 
 " And yet," said Pelevin, " he is indispensable 
 with his knowledge of Hertzegotha and the court." 
 
 " And therefore yet lives," added the madam. She 
 rose and paced the floor restlessly, the others meantime 
 silent while they waited. There was nothing further to 
 discuss as to formulated plans, so often had every de- 
 tail been rehearsed. It was merely a matter now of 
 choosing the hour for action. 
 
 For perhaps ten minutes the woman swung back and 
 forth like a female leopard before her iron bars, while 
 Max stared straight down at the floor and Pelevin made 
 fantastic drawings on a blotting pad. At a distant
 
 WHAT WALLS MAY SEPARATE 191 
 
 sound the madam suddenly halted and stood intently 
 listening. 
 
 " At last ! " she said, and a moment later, climbing 
 two steps at a stride, a pale-faced, watery-eyed, well- 
 dressed Hollander appeared where the door was held 
 open for his entrance. It was Jan. 
 
 " I am sober ! " he panted to the woman superior 
 triumphantly. " I have a great piece of fortune 
 news ! The Grand Duke is here ! He has already seen 
 the Princess. I have left him for hardly a minute since, 
 and have observed him this morning when he departed 
 from Wenck and made for himself new quarters ! " 
 
 Even Madame Zagorsky was mute for a moment with 
 astonishment and joy. She could scarcely believe she 
 had heard the man aright. She had closed the door 
 and stood regarding him with her penetrative stare as 
 if his panting was some strange phenomenon. 
 
 " You are sure of what you say? " she asked at last. 
 " The Grand Duke is here in New York? " 
 
 "Here! Who shall so well know him as myself?" 
 said Jan. " I am sober. I have had nothing to eat, 
 no drink, since seven o'clock last night. He is here ! " 
 
 " The smile of fortune on our cause at last! " said the 
 woman with fanatical zeal, as she made wild gestures 
 with her hands. " We shall now get them both 
 both ! It is worth all the waiting everything ! 
 Perhaps we must wait a little longer now; but to get 
 them both, ah ! a lifetime would be a little wait ! " 
 She turned on Jan almost savagely. " You left some- 
 one who to watch the Princess ? " 
 
 " No one," Jan confessed, like a' whipped cur. " It 
 was more important to follow the Duke. You will say 
 so yourself. Not until half an hour ago could I get
 
 192 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 Larene and set her to shadow Karl-Wilhelm while I shall 
 come. I have done my best." 
 
 " Where is he then, the Duke? " 
 
 Jan produced a dirty bit of paper and gave it into 
 her hand. On it was written the name and street ad- 
 dress of the hostelry to which the Duke had gone, to- 
 gether with the number of his room and the name under 
 which he had registered. 
 
 " Max," commanded Madame Zagorsky, " go at once 
 to the post on Fifth avenue. It is early. You may 
 yet be in time to begin with the program of the idle 
 rich." 
 
 " But the plans, the newer plans, now that the Duke 
 is present," said Max. " Shall these not require us 
 all?" 
 
 " They require none but myself," replied the woman. 
 " You shall smell of their brewing in season." 
 
 Max went his way, and preparations for the brew 
 began at the dingy old quarters, through the block from 
 Wenck and Baron von Hochhaus.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE CAR OF FATES 
 
 NEW YORK has a record for sunny December after7 
 noons ; but none to excel the beauty of that particular 
 one, deserving to be long remembered by many abroad 
 in the park. 
 
 Stuyverant's car arrived in front of Alice Van Kirk's 
 a little after two, Stuyverant sitting at his chauffeur's 
 side while the man tooled the big shining car to a 
 standstill at the curb. 
 
 " Meet me here to take it home at about four-thirty," 
 Robley instructed. " Let the motor run." 
 
 The man alighted after his master, saluted, looked 
 the purring mechanism over with a critical eye, and 
 walked away. Stuyverant ran up the steps of the 
 mansion ; but did not enter, as Thurley met him at the 
 door. 
 
 She was furred from boots to crown in the richest 
 Russian sable, the garment a masterpiece of tailoring 
 for grace and ease of movement. It seemed to Stuy- 
 verant he had never seen her wondrous brown eyes so 
 softly beautiful, her brows so delicately arched, her 
 color so brilliant and changeful. The smile on her 
 curving lips was exquisitely lovely. She seemed the 
 very embodiment of daintiness and strength together, a 
 supple young goddess, chosen by beauty and magnetic 
 energy to be their royal expression. 
 
 " You're really going to let me drive you meant 
 it?" she asked him delightedly. "I was so afraid 
 you'd alter your mind after all ! " 
 
 193
 
 194. THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Where you're concerned I haven't one to alter," he 
 assured her smilingly, conveying a truth in a jest. 
 " Haven't you noticed that before ? " 
 
 " How could I notice the functions of your mind if it 
 doesn't exist? " she replied to him archly. " And if 
 what you say is true, it wouldn't be polite to observe i 
 anyway." 
 
 He too smiled. " Polite or not, I trust you'll notice 
 my happiness this afternoon and make up your mind 
 it ought to be cultivated regularly." 
 
 They had come to the car, and she was stepping in to 
 take the driver's seat. " Is your happiness such an 
 anemic plant, or merely some sort of frail exotic ? " 
 
 " Oh, it could stand its knocks," he responded cheer- 
 fully. " In fact; it does constantly. But it thrives 
 in sunshine, naturally.*' 
 
 She speeded up the motor and adjusted the speed 
 controlling lever. " In which, of course, it is quite dis- 
 tinct from any other person's happiness," she answered 
 with another of her smiles. " It's the only one of its 
 kind." 
 
 " It's the only one I have," he said as she slipped in 
 the clutch and the car began to move. " And you con- 
 trol the sun." 
 
 "Wouldn't it be horrid to be the Ice Trust?" she 
 asked him, in mock gravity. " Think of the blighted 
 little bits of happiness then! Where shall we go? " 
 
 " Let's follow the wand of pleasure." 
 
 " Oh, I very much prefer to follow the roads. Wher- 
 ever you wander then, they lead you back again." 
 
 " Then choose the longest, the one that comes back 
 by the devious windings of the proverbial ' shortest way 
 home.' I don't believe I shall notice where we go.
 
 THE CAR OF FATES 195 
 
 I'm sure I sha'n't care, so long as the golden sunshine 
 continues." 
 
 They were rolling down the avenue with others of 
 their kind. 
 
 " You must be home the minute the sun goes down? " 
 
 " On the contrary, I'd go on like this forever." 
 
 " Oh, you'd tire of motoring finally if motors be- 
 came immortal. You'd ache for wings, or a lit- 
 tle golden aeroplane with the harp strapped on be- 
 hind." 
 
 " Suppose," he said, " you were the final arbiter, the 
 goddess in control, and you knew I was aching for any- 
 thing, would you really wish to be kind? What would 
 you do for the ache? " 
 
 " Advise a mustard plaster," said Thurley, persist- 
 ently unwilling to be anything but lightly responsive 
 to his queries and his hints, " and a hot water bag if 
 you felt a chill in your feet." 
 
 " Oh, Lord ! " he groaned, " this isn't an auto, it's a 
 hospital! Don't you know that doctors aren't human 
 beings ? " 
 
 " Neither is a final arbiter," she answered. " It 
 sounds more like a brindle terrier. I shouldn't care to 
 be one, please." 
 
 Down all the length of the avenue as far as the Plaza 
 entrance to the park, where the gilded statue of Sher- 
 man, his horse, and the Goddess of Victory were glint- 
 ing in the sun, she drove, pursued behind by one of the 
 big green motor busses that buzzed like a giant insect. 
 They were preceded also by carriages and cars in 
 rapidly increasing numbers. 
 
 " A little of the park to begin with, anyway," she 
 said, " and then perhaps out in the country. You'll
 
 196 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 have to direct me as to roads as soon as we leave the 
 crowd." 
 
 " The New York crowd is hard to leave," he told her 
 sagely. " They invade all the country, and all abroad, 
 and have their eyes on Mars. But I should say, 
 around the park, then over to Riverside Drive, and the 
 the world is practically spread before us for explora- 
 tion out beyond." 
 
 Thurley swung into the brilliant procession that 
 flowed like a stream through the highways of New 
 York's superb oasis, and a hundred necks were craned 
 as car and carriage occupants turned to stare at the 
 girl, like a figure of beauty at the wheel. 
 
 " It isn't much like our first little trip together," 
 Stuyverant continued presently. " I don't suppose 
 we'll ever be able to duplicate the excitements and 
 all the rest of that." 
 
 " Would you like to try it with your second wrist? " 
 she inquired. " Don't you think you're sufficiently in- 
 teresting as you are? " 
 
 " I shall soon have this one out of the hospital," he 
 answered, " when I hope for the pleasure of doing my 
 share of the work." 
 
 Such energizing elixir was in the air as made the 
 speed and distance restrictions of the park a species of 
 aggravation. Eagerly Thurley gazed out ahead, her 
 faculties largely centered on the guidance of the car. 
 She had neither time nor self consciousness to be aware 
 of the scores of curious and admiring beings who passed 
 them and forgot all else in watching her animated 
 beauty. 
 
 Here and there a carriage or an auto glided by with 
 acquaintances recently encountered. Some Thurley 
 saw and acknowledged with a smile, others were wholly
 
 THE CAR OF FATES 197 
 
 unobserved in her preoccupation with driving. Fiaschi 
 was one of those who passed, staring and grimacing 
 actively, only to be lost a moment later without having 
 drawn so much as a glance. He was storming in- 
 wardly with rage at Stuyverant, an impotent emotion 
 that heightened his own desire. 
 
 Thurley began her deviations from Robley's pro- 
 gram as soon as a change was practicable. She guided 
 the car from the western exit of the park ai its north- 
 ern end, in sight of the giant bones and skeleton of the 
 great Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, drove 
 straight up past the mighty structure, then over to the 
 river and the drive, presently passing the tomb of 
 Grant and continuing on to the huge steel viaduct that 
 spans a great Harlem ravine. 
 
 " What shall we achieve if we keep this direction 
 long enough? " she finally asked of her companion. 
 "Is this the road to Boston?" 
 
 " Yonkers," said Stuyverant ; " Albany finally, if we 
 keep on straight, and Buffalo afterward, or anything 
 you like. Sleepy Hollow is out in this direction, after 
 Yonkers." 
 
 " You couldn't promise me a sight of dear old Rip 
 Van Winkle, out in the Emersonian glades ? " 
 
 " I can show you Foe's cottage in the Bronx," he an- 
 swered smilingly. " There's the picture of the crow on 
 the gable." 
 
 " The raven ! " she declared. 
 
 " No, it's a crow," he persisted, " the sort one doesn't 
 hanker after at that. Shall I show you the road and 
 let you see? " 
 
 "Let's just ride," she said, and some way it glad- 
 dened his heart, just the friendly, comrade way she 
 said it, smiling in his eyes.
 
 198 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 They rode toward Yonkers, out along the last en- 
 croachments of the monster city, with its blocks of 
 houses tramping down the grass, and the trees and 
 even the rocks of the once-green Manhattan Island, be- 
 neath the far part of the subway railroad structure, 
 here built like the older fashioned elevated road, and 
 finally over the bridge that spans the Harlem River, 
 isolating New York from the mainland of the long and 
 slender peninsula; and so ran on through Van Cort- 
 landt Park, where golfers were straying on the green. 
 
 They turned to the right, at Stuyverant's direction, 
 after coming to hill-built Yonkers town, and roved 
 through open stretches of country, where, with grass 
 still green and trees all stark, there was merely a 
 ghostly suggestion of the recent autumnal beauty. 
 
 Far over to the eastward they encountered the old- 
 time Boston road, where the post chaise once made its 
 lumbering way from the Dutch of New Amsterdam to 
 the Pilgrims of New England. Out here, on the bor- 
 ders of Pelham Bay, there were cars in unexpected 
 numbers, endlessly humming up and down the splendid 
 thoroughfares in idle pursuit of pleasure. 
 
 The sun was inclining westward when at length they 
 turned to head for the town and home. Down through 
 the long straight stretch of Jerome Avenue they came 
 upon cars in all manner of haste and color, some of 
 them crowded, others occupied by a single being only, 
 and the vast majority, like themselves, bound home- 
 ward to escape the chill already suggested in the air. 
 
 Thurley had pushed her throttle up a notch and 
 advanced the spark sufficiently to accelerate their 
 speed to a pace only just within the limit of the law. 
 Then she and Stuyverant were startled by a strange
 
 THE CAR OF FATES 199 
 
 piercing cry of warning from the rear, just as their 
 car shot in upon a mile or more of narrowed road, 
 where excavations and upthrown earth occupied half 
 of the highway's ordinary width. 
 
 Stuyverant turned and Thurley saw the blanch- 
 ing of his face, even before she could take the part of 
 a second necessary to cast one look behind. 
 
 A rare and horrifying thing had happened. A car 
 built for racing, with three helpless children sitting in 
 the rear, was plunging down the crowded road with all 
 the madness of a runaway locomotive its driver sud- 
 denly stricken with death at the wheel ! 
 
 One of his hands still lingered on the throttle and 
 spark, which a jolt, as he died, had thrown forward. 
 The other hand had fallen at his side. He sat in apo- 
 plectic rigidity, his glassy eyes staring unseeingly be- 
 fore him, his attitude that of some grim Nemesis, se- 
 vere as stone, pursuing his living fellow beings as if 
 for company on the long, dark avenue into the great 
 Unknown. He was going like the wind. 
 
 Nearly a dozen cars had shot, veered, and skidded 
 from his path before the warning cry had come so far 
 as Thurley's ears. The children that rode with the 
 grim chauffeur were screaming in agonized horror. 
 Women's shrill trebles pierced the air, above the hoarser 
 shouting of men. 
 
 By a series of things mysterious and npt to be ex- 
 pected, the death driven car did not swerve madly from 
 the beaten track and crash into trees at the side of the 
 road, or into the equally fatal and thickly planted iron 
 trolley posts, lined down through the center of the high- 
 way. It came on, rocking and swaying drunkenly, like 
 a thing of life, diabolically intent upon destruction.
 
 200 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 The horror of the spectators, who felt, rather than 
 saw, that the driver was a corpse, had been centered on 
 fear for the children, thrown about in the tonneau in 
 sickening violence. A few had feared for themselves, 
 before they could dart from the monster's path and feel 
 it rocket by. 
 
 Now, of a sudden, the alarm increased. Not only 
 were the children in danger of instant death, through 
 collision with any of the numerous obstacles along the 
 path, but everyone chasing in wild pursuit became 
 aware of the car ahead the car with Thurley and 
 Stuyverant, hedged in the narrower, earth banked road 
 and unable to dodge to the side. 
 
 " We're in for it now ! " said Robley quietly. 
 " You'll have to race to escape it." 
 
 Thurley glanced behind again, and then at the road 
 ahead. 
 
 " We can't pick up the speed," she said, calmly 
 enough, making every possible move to give her more 
 power. " And some trolley cars are blocking ahead, 
 and a danger flag or something in the way." 
 
 "Good God! Those children!" muttered Stuy- 
 verant. " It's they or us or maybe both, in spite 
 of all we can do ! " 
 
 He expected that he and Thurley would be saved, 
 not by their possible speed ahead, but rather by some 
 frightful plunge the comet behind must presently 
 make, with no sentient control of the wheel. But, still 
 by that singular perversity of inanimate things, the 
 runaway mechanism clung to the road as if some un- 
 seen, ghostly hand was laid to guide it to a deadly 
 course and reap a greater harvest. 
 
 " Gaining ! " Stuyverant cried in helpless horror,
 
 am yoiuy to let it strike," sfa cried. 
 
 Page 201
 
 THE CAR OF FATES 201 
 
 while Thurley, bending every energy to urge the car 
 faster and faster, abruptly saw a mass of rock and earth 
 debris piled from a broken water main -across her only 
 course. They shot past the first of the trolley cars, 
 stalled on their tracks, and were in a cul de sac. 
 
 Passengers, conductor, and motorman shrieked as 
 they saw the impending doom, where the dead man's 
 chariot held lurchingly, almost malignantly to the road 
 and crept upon the rear of Robley's car. 
 
 Stuyverant was kneeling in his seat, helplessly 
 transfixed by the awful stare of the dead man's face, 
 now a few rods only away. He had never seen any- 
 thing more frightful, more repellent, in his life. A fear- 
 ful intensity had set its mark on the mask of death, till 
 the face bore a look of murderous hate which chilled 
 the blood in Robley's veins. 
 
 Thurley stood up, or half stood up, by the wheel. 
 " I am going to let it strike ! " she cried. " It's the 
 only way ! " 
 
 She meant the racer was bound to overtake tjiem 
 despite her utmost efforts. Disaster blocked the road 
 ahead. The machine behind had gone amuck and 
 Death was at the helm. 
 
 She dared not slack to receive the blow. Her only 
 hope was to hold her speed and so accept the impact 
 with as small a jar as such momentum would allow. 
 
 She was glancing alternately out ahead to steer, and 
 behind to receive the plunging comet of steel and 
 force so madly hurtling upon them, her face as gray 
 as stone. 
 
 Inch by inch the fire belching engine of doom was 
 creeping up. in their dust. It struck a lump of some- 
 thing in the road, lurching horribly over, struck an-
 
 202 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 other that instantly righted the forward wheels, and 
 leaped onward as if angered by delay. 
 
 Forward, backward, Thurley's glance was flung, and 
 then, with a sudden twisting of the wheel, she swerved 
 aside for the breadth of a hand and the monster be- 
 hind rammed viciously up against her car, its head- 
 lamps shattered with a crash of glass and metal, its 
 two front wheels, as it were, closely sandwiched with 
 the rear ones of the Stuyverant machine, while its ra- 
 diator crumpled on the springs and tonneau of the fly- 
 ing obstacle encountered. 
 
 There was one huge jolt which sat Thurley down, 
 but her hands were still glued to the wheel. She 
 kicked off her clutch and lightly applied her brake. 
 Her own motor, disconnected from the driving gear, 
 raced in the wildest uproar. 
 
 She held to the road, thrusting harder on the brake, 
 till presently, driven only by the madly ramming ma- 
 chine behind, she was halting the interlocked cars. 
 The weight of her own big tourer was slowing the racer 
 at the rear to impotent snarling and inertia, when 
 Stuyverant clambered heedlessly over tonneau and all, 
 leaped to the car where the dead man sat, and stilled 
 the laboring motor. 
 
 Ahead they had barely another hundred yards of 
 road sufficiently open for the race. 
 
 Thurley sank limberly into her seat, as weak and 
 white as a towel. Yet she faintly smiled as Stuyverant 
 cast her a look from his place where the children were 
 safe. 
 
 She had performed a masterpiece of receiving and 
 cushioning a collision which something akin to a 
 miracle had cheated of its prey!
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 BARON HOCHHATTS 
 
 How long they had been delayed by the avoided col- 
 lision, the ensuing excitement, and the forcing apart 
 of the cars, Thurley could never have told. It seemed 
 to her another afternoon, a long way removed from 
 the earlier hours, when at length she and Robley were 
 once more gliding down the road with the lowered sun 
 redly blazing upon them. 
 
 She was driving automatically, reactionary steadi- 
 ness having succeeded her nerve collapse. She was 
 still a trifle pale; but had pulled herself together with 
 amazing promptness, after the ordeal was over, and 
 had stoutly refused the services of a dozen chauffeurs 
 that. Stuyverant was ready to engage. 
 
 They had not resumed their former gayety of con- 
 versation. Indeed, they had scarcely spoken at all for 
 the fifteen minutes elapsed since once more getting un- 
 der way. They came to the great iron drawbridge 
 over another winding of the Harlem River, where rail- 
 road structures, shipping, trolley confusion, and a 
 mighty exemplification of the city's activities abruptly 
 blotted out all but memory of the quiet glades behind. 
 
 " We seem fated for excitements," said Stuyverant 
 at last, " especially with this car. I wonder what the 
 third will be and when ? " 
 
 Thurley glanced at him with one of her fainter 
 smiles. " You believe in threes you're supersti- 
 tious ? " 
 
 203
 
 204 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " I don't know, I'm sure. Everyone has a few su- 
 perstitions, I presume. There does seem to be a sort of 
 fatality in trios. We may not get our third experience, 
 of course ; but then " 
 
 "Why ride in this old car any more? " Thurley in- 
 terrupted, half in earnest. " I don't believe I shall." 
 
 " If it's fated, you will, you can't escape it," he as- 
 sured her, laughingly, yet a little serious nevertheless. 
 " We are mere helpless puppets of our destiny, and 
 it works both ways. If we can't escape our cataracts 
 of disaster, neither can we sidestep our zephyrs of 
 
 joy." 
 
 Thurley looked grave. " I think I prefer cataracts 
 of joy and zephyrs of disaster." 
 
 " May they come that way ! " he said devoutly. " I 
 would order them so if I could." 
 
 " It looked like a whirlwind of death awhile ago," 
 she said after a moment of silence. " Please, if you 
 must have a third of our experiences, begin to tame it 
 down right away." 
 
 There was no particular pleasure in threading the 
 up town streets of Gotham, as Thurley presently dis- 
 covered. By Stuyverant's directions she wound across 
 and down strange thoroughfares with all her ordinary 
 skill, however, till at length they rolled through Lenox 
 Avenue, and so once more to Central Park for the final 
 charm of their journey. 
 
 The last of the orange sunshine was casting a ruddy 
 glow of day-end splendor on the trees and lawns of the 
 still populous roadways, as they joined the homeward 
 roving procession of motors and open carriages. 
 
 Thurley, intent as before on the guidance and con- 
 trol of the car, where a moment's reckless driving might
 
 BARON HOCHHAUS 205 
 
 precipitate some huge disaster, had barely taken time 
 to enjoy a glance at the sun's soft glory and the cheer- 
 ing ruby background for the trees. She did not note 
 the rapid approach of a carriage wherein two men were 
 riding and inspecting all the crowds. 
 
 Stuyverant beheld the conveyance, or rather felt his 
 glance attracted to one of the men on its cushions. 
 The man was stiff in his poise and leaning angularly 
 forward in his seat, as he stared with concentrated in- 
 tensity at the girl driving the car. 
 
 It was Baron von Hochhaus, Ambassador Extraor- 
 dinary from Hertzegotha, and Wenck was at his side. 
 In a vain, rapid search for the missing Grand Duke 
 they had finally adopted this expedient, trusting that 
 they might, perchance, discover him riding in the park. 
 
 The little man, more iron visaged than before, with 
 this vision of Thurley to set the lines of his counte- 
 nance, saw nothing of Stuyverant, or at most had given 
 him a glance. But Robley returned his intensified 
 stare, instantly puzzled to know where it was he had 
 seen this face before. 
 
 The exchange of scrutinies lasted but a moment, 
 when the auto and the carriage, shuffled into the mov- 
 ing pack of life, and parted by the ceaseless maneuvers 
 of the traffic and the Fates, continued each its own 
 way. The Baron turned galvanically, as one on a 
 pivot, in his seat, and Stuyverant craned his neck to 
 the limit and the incident was closed. 
 
 "Did you see him see that man?" said Robley, 
 wheeling at once to the girl. " He stared at you as if 
 he had seen a spirit." 
 
 " What man? " said Thurley. " I didn't notice any- 
 one at all." '
 
 206 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Who in the deuce I've seen him before ; but 
 where? " continued Stuyverant. " He's someone in 
 particular I wish I could think I know I know 
 him well ; but where or how " 
 
 " New York has a large staring population," Thur- 
 ley ventured. " Perhaps he's just the star starer, or 
 star gazer if you prefer, of the town." 
 
 Stuyverant smiled; but his thoughts were far afield. 
 " It always worries me to forget a thing I ought to re- 
 member. It seems to me he did me a favor sometime. 
 It couldn't have been at Newport, or here in New 
 York Hum ! doesn't a thing like that get on a fel- 
 low's mind and stick like a ghost? " 
 
 Thurley saw no necessity of taking the matter so 
 seriously. " Are ghosts really known to be sticky ? " 
 
 "Ah! I remember. Of course!" He suddenly 
 turned to the girl, a new sort of gravity depicted on his 
 face. "If you had only seen him!" he added. "No 
 wonder he stared I mean he was Baron von Hoch- 
 haus of Hertzegotha, one of the biggest men in the 
 Kingdom." , 
 
 For a moment Thurley met his gaze blankly, till of 
 a sudden the full significance of this intelligence, in the 
 light of what Robley believed of herself, burst in upon 
 her swiftly moving thoughts. She colored instantly, 
 visions of the Grand Duke Karl and a hundred kindred 
 incidents and lucubrations crowding thickly upon her. 
 " The Baron " she started. 
 
 Stuyverant, noting her confusion, was instantly 
 contrite. " I beg your pardon I hardly stopped 
 to think. The abruptness of the meeting my mem- 
 ory I hope I have not distressed you uninten- 
 tionally." 
 
 " It is not worth mentioning," Thurley murmured,
 
 BARON HOCHHAUS 207 
 
 still somewhat nonplussed, nevertheless, and wondering 
 what, if anything, the visit of another dignitary from 
 Hertzegotha might imply, and how much his presence 
 in Gotham might affect herself and Alice. " You met 
 him on the Continent? You have been to Hertze- 
 gotha?" 
 
 " At Berlin. I have never been to your to his 
 country ; but hope He did me a very great service 
 two years ago, and was good enough to say I had done 
 him a greater. We became very friendly. I liked him 
 through and through." k 
 
 Thurley was silent for a moment. When she spoke 
 her companion was aware that the subject was dis- 
 missed. " I believe I shall not drive all the way down 
 through the park," she said. " I begin to feel a little 
 recurrence of something from what we went 
 through." 
 
 Stuyverant having hoped all afternoon for one of the 
 little familiar exchanges of a word or a glance between 
 herself and him, something that would hark back to 
 their initial meeting, perhaps, or to some of the few 
 sweet occasions since, was loath to realize that their 
 day was at an end, with nothing said between them to 
 arouse his oscillating hopes. ' 
 
 " It's a pity the sun must sink, a day like this," he 
 said. " I wish it might reverse its motion and begin 
 things all over again." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " she expostulated warmly. " It has been 
 far too strenuous for me! I'd rather start a new one, 
 please, and leave a few things out ! " 
 
 " But not our ride and sense of comradeship ? " 
 
 She looked at him quietly, softly, despite her sense 
 of judgment. "It has been like that, hasn't it? I 
 mean Shall I drive you home again ? "
 
 208 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 It was just a flash of that wondrous afternoon, when 
 joy had eased his pain. His heart bounded lightly at 
 her look and smile and the shadowy presence of her 
 softer mood, before it was merged in something else, 
 elusive and evanescent. " My man will drive me home," 
 he said. " Would you wish to have him take you away 
 again and leave you somewhere in the park? " 
 
 " I enjoyed that visit to the park," she answered, 
 and speeding up the car she drove it down the avenue, 
 to which they had emerged, and was presently halting 
 by the curb before the Van Kirk abode. 
 
 He assisted her out and thrilled at the clasp of 
 her little hand for a moment intrusted to his own. 
 For a second he held her gaze, fe 
 
 " Shall I see you again, Miss Thurley soon ? " 
 
 She arched her brows in her quaintly piquant way. 
 " I hardly expect to vanish, or to become invisible. 
 Good-by until we meet again. I've enjoyed it - 
 nearly all." 
 
 She ran up the steps and waved him adieu, and her 
 smile made his heart rejoice, i 
 
 Then presently he was gone, with his waiting chauf- 
 feur, and Thurley, encountering Alice on the stairs, 
 paused halfway up, as if the weight of her news could 
 be carried no farther that day. 
 
 " More startling things for you to hear," she said. 
 " Who do you think we just passed in the park? " 
 
 " I know," said Alice, instantly mimicking soldierly 
 rigidity, " Baron von Hochhaus all sorts of things 
 from Hertzegotha. Am I right ? " 
 
 "Good gracious!" said Thurley, once more a trifle 
 pale from overtaxations of the hour. " But how ' 
 
 " He has already been here this afternoon. He is
 
 BARON HOCHHAUS 209 
 
 coming again at eight o'clock and has asked to see you 
 alone." / 
 
 Thurley sat down on the stairs. " Aren't they get- 
 ting thick? " she said, faintly smiling up at Alice. 
 " But what's the use of worrying? Mr. Stuyverant 
 and I were nearly killed by a runaway automobile." 
 
 It was Alice's turn to feel a wilting of the heart. 
 She too sat down on the stairs. " Thurley ! You're 
 pale, child. Tell me all about it." 
 
 " It didn't last long thank the stars ! " imparted 
 Thurley, and, reducing the story to the minimum of 
 facts and horrors, she related what had occurred. " It 
 happened to end all right," she continued presently; 
 " but it made me a little weak. The other car was 
 damaged pretty badly; but we were barely scratched. 
 Of course there were plenty of people to take the chil- 
 dren home and the awful dead thing away." 
 
 " Made you a little weak ! " repeated Alice. " Good 
 Heavens! Robley couldn't have driven you home. 
 Who did?" ' 
 
 " Oh, there was no good reason for hiring a man," 
 said Thurley, simply. " I was soon all right again." 
 
 " You drove the car after that? " 
 
 " Why, of course." i 
 
 Alice swallowed hard at her emotions. " I think you 
 are safe enough to meet the Baron alone." But she 
 put out her arms, slid down a step, and strained Thur- 
 ley tightly against her bosom. " You frighten me, 
 dear," she added maternally. " I someway feel I'd 
 rather you wouldn't ride with Robley again. There's 
 a hoodoo on his car." 
 
 Thurley laughed, in sheer relief from overstrain of 
 strength and nerves. " Robley said something like
 
 210 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 that himself ; but I almost love that car. He said we'd 
 have to look out for the third time and its charm." 
 
 " Dear girl," Alice added in her tender mood. " I 
 have launched you in violent waters, apparently." 
 
 " Mostly Florida waters," Thurley laughed. " I'm 
 the luckiest girl in the world after all." 
 
 Alice kissed her, rose, assisted Thurley to her feet, 
 and with one arm snugly about the slender waist went 
 with her up the stairs. >
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 
 
 FOR the third time Thurley faced a species of dread 
 behind the reception room door. The Baron was there, 
 alone. 
 
 " He's as little as a Christmas tree candle," Alice 
 assured her, smoothing the girl's wondrous golden hair 
 by way of allaying her nervous apprehensions. " You 
 needn't be afraid of handling him just as you wish. 
 You could blow him out with a whiff." 
 
 " If you could only help me a little," Thurley said, 
 her smile rather faint and forced. " You would know 
 in a moment whether I'd better tell him or not that I'm 
 sorry I just look so like the Princess." 
 
 Alice patted her affectionately on the cheek. " If 
 a girl who did what you did to-day cannot trust to the 
 guidance of her instincts and judgment, she ought to 
 be abandoned to her fate. That's all. You'll know 
 what to say and do. And, whatever you decide, be 
 sure, my dear, I'll accept it and be content. Now go 
 along. I'll finish reading of your heroic conduct in 
 The Evening Star: 9 
 
 " It isn't half true, not half of all that stuff! " said 
 Thurley, reddening guiltily at thought of the lurid ac- 
 count already in the New York press concerning the 
 collision on the road. " I don't see where they ever 
 got so much." 
 
 " Go along," said Alice, " and remember, this little 
 
 211
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 clothespin of a Baron is not a sixty horsepower auto- 
 mobile." 
 
 One of the servants opened the door to the room 
 where the Baron was in waiting. Thurley entered in 
 girlish trepidation, instantly convinced that the Baron 
 was eight feet tall and a hundred and fifty horsepower 
 at the least. 
 
 The man was little only in his stature. His genuine 
 size could not have been concealed or calculated. He 
 was standing in the center of the room when Thurley 
 entered,' his hands behind his back. He had halted 
 from pacing up and down at the slight sound at the 
 door. He came half the distance forward, regarding 
 Thurley piercingly, as she, half dazed and wholly fas- 
 cinated by his personality, filling all the room, 
 gazed fixedly upon him while advancing. 
 
 "Miss Thurley, I believe? " he said in German, the 
 iron of his face relaxing in a mobile way as he dis- 
 cerned and comprehended her timidity of spirit. " May 
 I hope I am welcome in your home? " 
 
 " Oh, very welcome," Thurley said impulsively, 
 transformed at once to her frank and easy self by some- 
 thing cordial in his manner, and she held forth her hand 
 in token of sincerity. 
 
 With an older, more finished grace than that of the 
 Duke he took it and raised it to his lips. " I honor 
 myself in the privilege of coming," he assured her, 
 looking her once more squarely in the eyes. " You 
 were a little prepared for my visit ? " 
 
 " I have been prepared for almost anything recently," 
 Thurley blurted honestly. " I mean of course Mrs. 
 Van Kirk informed me when I returned this afternoon." 
 
 "So. Will you not be more comfortable seated?"
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 213 
 
 Thurley inclined her head. " And you will also be 
 comfortable? " 
 
 He drew up a chair as she sank on a slender bit of 
 Chippendale, and then sat only on its edge, with a cer- 
 tain military alertness, as if expectant of the bugle's 
 call and a hastening into action. " You are perhaps 
 a little aware of my mission here in America," he said, 
 with no further preliminaries by way of introducing 
 his subject. " You know I have come as an ex- 
 traordinary representative of the court at Hertze- 
 gotha?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Thurley a little faintly. " I knew 
 something of your dignity your mission of 
 course. Mrs. Van Kirk informed me." 
 
 " You know that the Kingdom of Hertzegotha is 
 very much distressed, almost disrupted, by the unprec- 
 edented disappearance and absence from the court of 
 Princess Thirvinia and Grand Duke Karl-Wilhelm ? " 
 
 Thurley wondered whither his line of queries might 
 be trending, but she saw no course but to answer 
 straightforwardly. There was no sign as yet to guide 
 her along a special path. " I could scarcely be in ig- 
 norance of what you have stated of some of it, I 
 mean." 
 
 " But you may not know the gravity, the acute 
 anxiety, of the situation," he told her quietly. " I 
 wish in particular to impress upon you the fact that 
 Hertzegotha is appalled, is politically stricken to its 
 uttermost foundation, by this calamity; that disaster 
 stares her in the face, absorption, disintegration, I 
 might say degradation and ruin, if her Princess and 
 the Duke are not restored to their Kingdom. I wish 
 to arouse your profoundest sympathy with these facts,
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and to play upon every noble attribute of your nature 
 thereby." 
 
 He spoke with a feeling even deeper than that be- 
 trayed by Wenck in this very room, as the former rep- 
 presentative pleaded with her to return to Hertzegotha. 
 Wenck had obviously believed herself to be the Princess. 
 It did not seem credible for half a moment that Baron 
 von Hochhaus could be similarly deluded. And yet she 
 could not, from his impassioned speech, extract the 
 slightest clue to his mind. 
 
 She was much affected. Her sympathies were thor- 
 oughly aroused. She hardly knew what she must an- 
 swer. She was almost on the point of revealing, then 
 and there, her entirely American identity and helpless- 
 ness in Hertzegotha's situation ! 
 
 " You you certainly do arouse you make me 
 wish to help you all I can," she said. " I only wish " 
 
 " You can help me greatly here to-night ! " 
 he interrupted eagerly, the predicament of his country 
 having wrought a miracle of transformation in the man 
 to make him thoroughly human. " I was certain of 
 the goodness of your heart ! " 
 
 Thurley flushed. " Thank you ; but I'm afraid you 
 may not " 
 
 " First let me ask you you have seen the Duke, 
 here last night ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mrs. Van Kirk and myself." 
 
 " Could you possibly tell me what he did, how he 
 acted when he saw you, what he said ? " 
 
 " Why he acted like anybody else." 
 
 " He was pleased, surprised? " 
 
 Thurley's color mounted readily to her throat and 
 cheeks. " He said he was pleased I think. He
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 215 
 
 seemed to be glad I mean it is very hard for any 
 young woman to claim to boast to make a state- 
 ment about anything like that." 
 
 " Naturally," agreed the Baron ; " but he kissed 
 your hand, he kept his eyes upon you, he enacted the 
 role pardon the query of the accepted fiance?" 
 
 Thurley's color became fairly scarlet. " Why I 
 
 I hardly know what anyone else might think. His 
 eyes were very bright. I couldn't help noticing that." 
 
 " They were upon you rather constantly? " 
 
 She nodded. " But he was here a short time only." 
 
 " Yet he was not sad? " 
 
 " He said he was not in the least." 
 
 "Ah, perhaps he said he was happy?" The 
 Baron's anxiety in the inquisition increased. 
 
 " Most any man feels obliged to say as much as 
 that," was Thurley's nai've reply. 
 
 " Could you possibly repeat exactly what he said in 
 that regard? " 
 
 " Why he really made his remark to Mrs. Van 
 Kirk. He told her that when he arrived at noon he 
 hated New York and that night he loved all America." 
 
 " Ah ! " The Baron slid back in his chair, his look 
 of anxiety growing more pronounced. " I had a fear 
 
 I had a fear of this." 
 
 Thurley was intensely sympathetic. " You fear he 
 will not return? " 
 
 " Tell me," he answered, his face slightly twitching 
 as he spoke, " did he express the slightest desire that 
 you go with him to Hertzegotha ? " 
 
 Thurley was certain the game, begun in innocence, 
 was going much too far. She felt that to meddle in af- 
 fairs of state, where a Kingdom's agony was vividly re-
 
 216 THUBJLEY RUXTON 
 
 vealed, was not to be warranted another moment for 
 anything she and Alice might desire. 
 
 " The Duke suggested something like he seemed 
 to think," she faltered, observing distress more and 
 more plainly inscribed on the Baron's lineaments. 
 " Oh, I think I ought to tell you, Baron von Hochhaus 
 that " 
 
 A startlingly loud and imperious knock on the door 
 interrupted her speech and startled Thurley to her feet. 
 The Baron too had risen instantly, his face once more 
 an iron mask as he faced about to the door, which had' 
 opened from without. 
 
 Wenck shot in with a military galvanism, accelerated 
 by some worry almost foaming in his eyes. He was 
 fearfully congested with something new that the Baron 
 must instantly hear. 
 
 The Baron, for his part, divining that something 
 untoward had occurred, was keyed to a high celerity 
 of speech. " Pardon," he said to Thurley jerkily. 
 " May I crave your permission for a moment apart 
 with Herr Wenck? " 
 
 " Certainly," Thurley answered, herself wide eyed 
 with wonder at it all, and she went to the farther end 
 of the room while Wenck continued, from his place by 
 the door, to bow and redden in her presence. 
 
 The Baron was at his side at once. "What is it? " 
 he demanded. " Find your voice ! No new ill tidings 
 of the Duke? " 
 
 " 111 tidings for them both ! " almost wailed poor 
 Wenck, his utterance a rasping whisper for only the 
 Baron to hear. " Zagorsky with all her brood 
 Pelevin, Jan, and others is here in New York, their 
 agent already shadowing her Highness, and doubtless
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 217 
 
 his Excellency, night and day. You must make them 
 to flee, or all for the Kingdom is lost!" 
 
 "Zagorsky? I feared it," said the Baron, instantly 
 calm, now that the worst was thus baldly presented. 
 " We could find no trace of the woman or her usual 
 associates after the Princess had gone. Have you fur- 
 ther news of the Duke? " 
 
 " None none ; but this has overwhelmed me. Our 
 customary safeguards are impossible here; the chances 
 for violence are many. Unless you can now persuade 
 the Princess " 
 
 " There is hope," said the Baron, interrupting, an- 
 other change abruptly coming on his face as he cast a 
 quick glance in Thurley's direction. " No sacrifice 
 now could be too great to retrieve this runaway pair. 
 Leave me now and wait, to go in half an hour." 
 
 Wenck hesitated. " But is there nothing I may do, 
 no assistance I may render? I must only wait?" 
 
 " You will thereby serve. Then go." 
 
 " For God and Hertzegotha ! " said Wenck, his face 
 betraying his emotions, and saluting he bowed himself 
 backward from the room. 
 
 The Baron returned to his former position, and Thur- 
 ley glided up from the farther window, thoroughly de- 
 termined on the course she felt to be imperative. 
 
 " Baron von Hochhaus," she said at once, resuming 
 precisely where she had been interrupted, " do you not 
 discern that I am not Princess Thirvinia? If you do 
 not, I must tell you so, and tell you how weak I am to 
 help you. Perhaps I resemble your Princess. It would 
 seem I must ; for all New York, and even Herr Wenck, 
 have thrust this new identity upon me. Neither I nor 
 Mrs. Van Kirk ever started this absurd mistake. If
 
 218 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 we have a little permitted others to delude themselves, 
 it seemed an innocent diversion ; but with all this serious 
 entanglement, this menace to your country, I cannot 
 consent to another moment of this grave misunder- 
 standing ! " 
 
 The Baron was watching her face with penetrative, 
 keen discernment of the character that lay behind her 
 looks and words. He had shown not the slightest sign 
 of surprise, nor the change of a muscle in his face. 
 " Thank you, Miss Thurley, for your candor, your 
 spirit," he said to her quietly. " I knew at once that 
 you were not the Princess. You will pardon a gray old 
 man, I am sure, for saying you are, perhaps, more 
 beautiful, even more endowed with charm. It was be- 
 cause I knew you were not her Royal Highness that I 
 ventured to hope for your assistance.'* 
 
 Thurley felt her tension instantly released. " Oh, 
 I'm glad you know. I have been so puzzled. I have 
 felt so guilty. I have hardly known what I ought to 
 do, in such a situation ; but as long as it seemed a harm- 
 less joke, it was fun, a temptation, to let it go on." 
 
 " Your position requires no explanation," he assured 
 her. " I understand it perfectly. I am certain, more- 
 over, of your sympathy, as well as your honest intent. 
 I am here to implore your aid." 
 
 His gesture and the tone of his voice in that final 
 sentence went straight to Thurley's heart, she knew not 
 why. " I can help you ? But how ? What is it I 
 could do?" 
 
 " Much, perhaps very much indeed." His gravity 
 was obvious. " First let me ask- you, Did the Duke re- 
 quest that he might return again ? " 
 
 "Yes, certainly. You see, I couldn't understand
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 219 
 
 whether he had been engaged to the Princess without 
 ever having seen her first, as they sometimes do, I'm 
 told, or whether he really thought " 
 
 " Exactly," the Baron interrupted, in his quiet way 
 that masked a certain eagerness to proceed with the 
 matter in hand, " I appreciate all of that also. Did 
 you tell him he might return ? " 
 
 " There seemed to be nothing else to do. I hardly 
 knew how to refuse." 
 
 " You had no personal feeling, no suddenly ignited 
 feeling toward in the interview, its outcome, his 
 evident pleasure at the meeting, his desire to renew his 
 addresses? " 
 
 " Why, he was nice very interesting. It wat 
 flattering, I suppose," Thurley faltered, rosy of face 
 again. " I hardly had time to think except that he 
 was handsome and pleasant and a Duke." 
 
 The Baron motioned her once more to her seat, then 
 occupied his chair-edge as soon as she was settled. He 
 altered his course to secure the information for which 
 he was delicately feeling, his desire to know how much 
 or how little Thurley might have fallen love's victim to 
 the looks and titles of her recent suitor. 
 
 " To-day I saw you riding in the park with a Mr. 
 Stuyverant," he said. " Once I knew him well. I re- 
 gard him as an exceptionally able and splendid young 
 man." 
 
 " Oh," said Thurley, surprised at his swift aban- 
 donment of the former subject. " He said he saw you, 
 at the time, and mentioned meeting you once in Ber- 
 lin." 
 
 The Baron nodded. " Do you feel a particular in- 
 terest in Mr. Stuyverant? Pardon the question of an
 
 220 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 old man greatly concerned in everything at present 
 pertaining to yourself. You doubtless have many ad- 
 mirers ; but perhaps there is one " He left his sen- 
 tence incomplete. 
 
 Thurley had reddened as before. " Would it help 
 in your dilemma to probe to know Won't you 
 please tell me just exactly how I may be of assistance? " 
 
 " I will be very frank," he answered, becoming aware 
 that the open way was Thurley's way and candor the 
 most expedient. " If the young Duke should fancy 
 himself in love, if it should be no fancy, what would you 
 say to his addresses, what would you do?" 
 
 Thurley laughed. " Oh, he couldn't do anything of 
 the sort, unless he thinks Why, he's only a boy ! 
 He's not an American. I should feel very sorry if it 
 went so far, and I'm sure it never will." 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed the Baron. " I felt certain of 
 your aid. Is it possible now to tell me when he will 
 come ? " 
 
 " I have no means of knowing that myself." 
 
 The Baron rose and paced about a little uneasily. 
 " Of course. But come he will, and we shall learn 
 I arrive now at the point, Miss Thurley. I shall make 
 a very important request." 
 
 Thurley met his gaze unflinchingly. " Yes ? It is 
 something about the Duke? " 
 
 " That part presently. It is, first, that you con- 
 tinue as before to enact the role of Princess Thirvinia ; 
 that is to say, that you do nothing, state nothing, con- 
 fess nothing, that will in any manner disabuse the minds 
 of those who now credit the story that you are her 
 Royal Highness." 
 
 Thurley almost gasped. She had been prepared to
 
 A PLENIPOTENTIARY BEGS 221 
 
 abandon everything in any public manner the Baron 
 might have desired. She had thought no other course 
 tenable after to-night. She had even feared the impo- 
 sition of which she and Alice had been passively guilty 
 had wrought great harm to Hertzegotha, possibly, 
 and constituted a grave peril to its Princess. 
 
 "Go on with this pretense?" she said. "You 
 wish that, wish me to occupy the place? Do you mean 
 to everyone? " 
 
 " To everyone." 
 
 " Not confess to the Duke when he comes ? " 
 
 " Even that would be quite unnecessary." 
 
 " But why continue the fiction, after this? " she in- 
 quired wonderingly. " Can it do any possible good, 
 be of any benefit or service? " 
 
 " Perhaps a very great service indeed," he assured 
 her earnestly. " I am not at liberty to explain, except 
 to say you are already accepted, almost officially, as 
 Princess Thirvinia, and that Hertzegotha may be im- 
 measurably served and indebted if you will kindly con- 
 sent to proceed as before, disturb no beliefs already ex- 
 cited as to who and what you are. This you will prom- 
 ise to do ? " 
 
 Thurley smiled at him girlishly. " Of course I've 
 enjoyed it any young woman would. If you knew 
 how novel, how wonderful, it has been to me! I have 
 done almost nothing to bring it about. I admit I'd 
 feel a little regret to well, be stripped of all of it so 
 suddenly ; but I made up my mind to do anything to 
 help Hertzegotha, for all her troubles are real and se- 
 rious, and mine are all pretense." 
 
 " Not all pretense," he corrected kindly. " They 
 are just as real, just as poignant, as those of a King-
 
 222 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 dom. But may they be fewer and briefer!" He held 
 forth his hand, took Thurley's in his firm, dry clasp, 
 and raised it as before to his lips. " You deserve your 
 throne and coronet," he added. " I trust they will one 
 day come." 
 
 " Thank you," said Thurley ; " but I feel as if I'm 
 being absurdly overpaid for having a very happy 
 time." Her smile went straight to his heart. 
 
 He knew of the dangers besetting the unsuspecting 
 girl, and felt a momentary pang at the element of 
 heartlessness he was practising in shielding the genuine 
 Princess, and perhaps Hertzegotha's integrity, behind 
 this innocent instrument of the Fates. Then the over- 
 whelming gravity of the situation and his own relent- 
 less and absorbing patriotism for which he would 
 have sacrificed a score of lives, his own included this 
 steadied him back upon his course like an iron device 
 on its rails. 
 
 " I could wish your happiness an absolute triumph, 
 always," he assured her sincerely. " Be sure that every 
 possible exertion will be made, so far as I and my asso- 
 ciates are concerned, to secure that end. I have your 
 agreement to continue as you were the reputed 
 Princess Thirvinia? " 
 
 " If you wish it, with all my heart." 
 " To everyone, no matter what may occur? " 
 " Of course. It could be no other way." 
 He kissed her hand again. " Auf wiedersehen" he 
 said, and she presently heard the hall door close 
 he and Wenck had gone.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE CALDRON BUBBLES 
 
 GAILLARD came into his office a trifle pale and more than 
 a trifle agitated. The news received at his bank had 
 been staggering, yet had served to arouse a rage in his 
 breast that stiffened all the sinews of his being. The 
 first intimation of Fiaschi's double dealing had come 
 thus belated to his ken. He found himself practically 
 undermined before his least suspicion had been aroused. 
 
 His secretary glanced up at him instinctively, won- 
 dering if the warning note received that morning from 
 the bank had been confirmed. He saw that it had. 
 
 Gaillard threw down a bundle of papers and leaned 
 on the desk. " I might have known better than to deal 
 with a dago Count," he said. " They are born to fat- 
 ten on the world at large, and the U. S. in particular. 
 Has the list improved since noon ? " 
 
 The secretary rose and went to the ticker, where the 
 white paper tape was coiled yards long in a basket. 
 " It was going off when I looked at it last," he im- 
 parted, scanning the figures printed on the narrow 
 strip of ribbon. " Still dragging a little heavily." 
 
 " I'd expect that as part of the luck," said Gaillard, 
 seating himself beside the desk and idly strumming 
 with his fingers. " It's something, I suppose, to have 
 found out as soon as this what my olive oil associate 
 is doing. I'll put a crimp in him for this that the 
 devil himself couldn't iron out ! " 
 
 " I hope you will, sir ! " exclaimed his secretary ear- 
 
 223
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 nestly. " I've felt all along that you were trusting the 
 Count too far, putting too much of the management 
 in his hands." 
 
 Gaillard scowled. " Without him and his uncle's 
 connections in Paris we couldn't have put a finger in 
 the pie." 
 
 " Quite right, sir ; but hasn't he got you to put in 
 more than a finger I mean in the past few days? " 
 
 " That's the joker," Gaillard admitted. " My share 
 before was comparatively small all he would let me 
 have. Now I've got an arm in the pie, and maybe 
 part of my shoulder. He must have held me off before 
 to make me eager, and now he has let me in up to the 
 hilt for this ! " 
 
 " But about your notes, sir? " said the eager assist- 
 ant, returning from the ever busy ticker that was 
 blithesomely tapping out fortune or ruin on the tape. 
 " They have not yet fallen into his hands ? " 
 
 " That's the one uncertainty. I shall not be able to 
 determine where they are for several days. Tyson has 
 let them go the ingrate ! If Fiaschi gets them at 
 all it will be in a roundabout manner. I doubt if he'll 
 take them personally. He'd prefer to have someone 
 else put on the screws." 
 
 " But you'll beat him, of course, at the final mo- 
 ment? " 
 
 " To a pulp ! " said Gaillard, rising and striking the 
 desk with his fist. " I'd rather go stone broke and get 
 out in the street to dig sewers than have him down me 
 now ! The treacherous hound ! " 
 
 " Perhaps," said the secretary timidly, " you might 
 be wiser to let me sell your curb securities while the loss 
 is reasonably small."
 
 THE CALDRON BUBBLES 
 
 " Not a share ! " Gaillard told him decisively. " I've 
 taken losses enough! This is merely a dip in the mar- 
 ket. That's well known everywhere. I shall need 
 some profits on that Q. & P. to fight this business 
 through. And Metal Reductions is due for a rise on 
 the dividend payable this week. I'll take a profit on 
 them both." 
 
 He went to his inner office restlessly, closed the door 
 behind him, and began to pace the floor. His thoughts 
 had gone straight to Thurley and Fiaschi's aspirations 
 for her hand. He was instantly hot all through, re- 
 calling a scene of the " Princess " and the Count to- 
 gether at Alice Van Kirk's. He had likewise read of 
 her adventure with Stuyverant's car and this had in- 
 creased his impatience. 
 
 He thought of his letter, written and sent to Thur- 
 ley after their drive in the park. There had been no 
 answer. He turned to a heap of mail that was neatly 
 piled on his desk and pawed it over rapidly, in a search 
 that availed him not at all. 
 
 Again he paced the room. That Fiaschi had mixed 
 their business with affairs concerning Thurley, with pur- 
 pose to eliminate himself, had not yet occurred to his 
 mind. But now that the die was cast by the Count the 
 plan to beat him thoroughly in their financial deal and 
 so perhaps forcibly eject him from Thurley's circle, 
 was royally welcome to his mind. He paced for an 
 hour, working out his plans, then started for Alice Van 
 Kirk's. 
 
 He encountered Fiaschi outside the office door, the 
 Count having just arrived for a moment's conversation. 
 
 " Ah, so very early you depart your business place? " 
 said he. " It is not impossible, a trifling conference? "
 
 226 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " I'm rather in a hurry," Gaillard answered. " Any- 
 thing new? Perhaps you can tell me here." 
 
 " Very good. The building is your office, eh? " and 
 Fiaschi shrugged resignedly. " I have only to inform 
 you this option which we hold, it is demanded we shall 
 cable the money not later than the seventeenth, and 
 this is important you shall know." 
 
 Gaillard colored wrathfully. " But you said the 
 end of the month ! " 
 
 " Ah, yes, this was my wish, my hope ; but I also am 
 helpless. This is the cable from Paris." He produced 
 the cable in question and Gaillard read it with a blur of 
 red before his eyes. He felt convinced that his friend 
 the Count had requested this demand for no other pur- 
 pose than that of destroying all possible chance for him 
 (Gaillard) to meet his obligations. He saw more 
 than the words upon the yellow slip, he saw ruin 
 smoking about him, and his structures prone on the 
 ground. 
 
 Yet one gleam of hope still shone through it all, and 
 with characteristic American stoicism he accepted the 
 outlook with scarcely a sign that Fiaschi could have en- 
 joyed. 
 
 " All right," he answered carelessly, handing back 
 the message. " Is that all you can think of to-day? " 
 
 " It is enough for me," replied the Count, mirthlessly 
 smiling. " I shall be oblige to call upon all my re- 
 source, everything. Yourself ah ! you Americans 
 have such untold moneys ! Sell, I have no more intelli- 
 gence. I must also go." 
 
 His gentle hint that Gaillard must command a very 
 large sum of money within a week to meet his obliga- 
 tions or be wrecked, was not at all lost on his business
 
 THE CALDRON BUBBLES 227 
 
 associate, who felt the barb of the Count's little shaft 
 diffusing poison through his system. 
 
 They went to the elevator together, parting below in 
 the hallway of marble that led to the Broadway en- 
 trance. Each was anxious to escape the other, and 
 both took cabs a block apart and started a race up 
 town to the Van Kirk mansion. 
 
 They were doomed to double exasperation. Not 
 only did they once more meet at Alice's home, and ex- 
 change the venom of jealous hatred, disgust, and dis- 
 trust, but Alice and Thurley were away for a ride in 
 the park and had left no word as to when they might 
 return. Both men went off wrathfully, to inundate the 
 place with flowers. 
 
 Alas for plans! The quiet ride, intended by Alice 
 and Thurley for a little slipping away together, for 
 much needed calm and subsidence of nerves and pulses, 
 had been metamorphosed, almost at the moment of de- 
 parture, into one more extraordinary experience. 
 
 Grand Duke Karl-Wilhelm, youthfully confident that 
 American manners were absolutely informal and differ- 
 ent from those of civilized communities, had translated 
 Thurley's hospitable remarks with a literal license posi- 
 tively touching. He had come unexpectedly this af- 
 ternoon, because he wished to come, and had found 
 an earlier arrival on the scene, in American tailoring, 
 a bit impractical. Indeed, he apologized profusely for 
 this somewhat tardy appearance, when the dictates of 
 his heart and sentimental system would have urged him 
 to the scene the very next morning after his formal in- 
 troduction. 
 
 Alice and Thurley, with one accord, had invited him 
 into the carriage. He sat himself down by the " Prin-
 
 228 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 cess " with an alacrity that could leave no doubt of the 
 happiness he declared to be his portion, and forthwith 
 desired to know of Thurley and Madam Van Kirk if 
 their tongues were accustomed to French. His joy 
 could scarcely have been concealed when he learned that 
 Alice was helpless and Thurley fluent in the Gallic lan- 
 guage. Nevertheless, he continued for a time to ad- 
 dress them both in German. 
 
 He was a pleasant youth, despite the fact that he 
 had fallen hopelessly in love. His observations, as 
 quaint as a child's, amused his companions immeasur- 
 ably. The buildings, the American women, and the 
 brilliant winter sunshine, astonished him in nearly equal 
 degrees. He announced, however, that of the three he 
 preferred the women. 
 
 " Is it very difficult to become an American citizen ? " 
 he asked quite seriously. " Could one be made of me? " 
 
 Alice replied that five days usually bestowed the man- 
 ners, clothes, and money-madness, and five years the 
 vote, upon all foreign aspirants to this red-white-and- 
 blue preeminence. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the Duke. " And how far from New 
 York are the Mormons? " 
 
 " About five minutes' walk from Trinity Church," 
 said Alice gravely. She added that the sect of Brigham 
 Young and his followers was three thousand miles to 
 the westward. 
 
 " And so many beautiful women here? " said the 
 Duke, solemnly shaking his head. " One must live here 
 longer to comprehend the American men." 
 
 Thurley regarded the Duke amusedly. " And 
 should you like to become a Mormon ? " 
 
 His eyes glowed with all his youthful fire and pent-
 
 THE CALDRON BUBBLES 229 
 
 up eloquence as he turned them reproachfully upon her. 
 " Princess ! " he said in French. " After this discovery 
 of you!" 
 
 Her color mounted with the undulating beauty of a 
 zephyr over meadow clover. " I thought it was your 
 discoveries of our women, you know that aroused 
 your interest in that obsolete religion." Her answer 
 was in German. 
 
 He adhered to the tongue that he knew obscured his 
 observations from Alice. 
 
 " For the others, yes. For me Ah ! what happi- 
 ness I have known since I came upon you in your home ! 
 But you shall tell me, Princess, must you live always 
 here to be content? " 
 
 Thurley smiled, and replied in the Teuton tongue. 
 " I hope to be contented wherever I may live." 
 
 His eyes became imploring. " Have you no little 
 word for me alone, in French?" 
 
 "How little?" she answered. "There is always 
 ' non,' you know." 
 
 " Ah ! How helpless I am ! " he declared. " Those 
 who have traveled far to find you do you treat them 
 always thus ? " 
 
 She could not resist the temptation. Her answer 
 was in the tongue he desired. " You are certain you 
 came to New York to find me? " 
 
 He reddened; but did not for a second drop his 
 glance, held magnetized by her own. 
 
 " How could it be otherwise? Have not the Fates 
 quickly brought me to your side and given me back my 
 joy a thousandfold? " 
 
 " But your Excellency " 
 
 " Not ' Karl,' when I asked it so earnestly, when
 
 230 THURJLEY RUXTON 
 
 I search, no farther in all America to satisfy my 
 heart? " 
 
 " There are so many things to talk about before 
 you return to Hertzegotha," she said, her own glance 
 falling in the uninterrupted ardor of his eyes. " Do 
 you not very soon return? " 
 
 "How shall I say unless you say it for me? 
 Princess, there are beauties of the land, beauties of the 
 people, beauty of the life in Hertzegotha, as you would 
 be certain to know. Will these not appeal to you and 
 call you presently there? " 
 
 " Call me there, your Excellency ? " 
 
 " You shall make me yet to curse that word ' Excel- 
 lency,' gracious Princess though you are," he told her 
 warmly. " Why shall I hesitate to confess to you the 
 love grown wild for utterance in my heart? Is it 
 treachery to your love of America for me to beg that 
 you go to Hertzegotha at my side my Princess and 
 Duchess and companion? " 
 
 " Good gracious ! " said Thurley in English, turning 
 suddenly to gaze aside where carriages by scores were 
 rolling by. " Oh, your Excellency, perhaps it is some- 
 one you know ! " 
 
 His eyes followed hers to a landau wherein two 
 women were bowing and smiling. 
 
 " You know them," said Alice, bowing as she spoke, 
 " the Custers ? We'll have to be careful, my dear, or 
 our friends will think we have cut them." 
 
 Thurley immediately began, in her animated way, a 
 description of various friends, in whom the Duke was 
 interested less than in Mars' theoretical policemen. It 
 was anything to interrupt and forestall his uncomfort- 
 ably ardent declarations.
 
 THE CALDRON BUBBLES 231 
 
 Alice, with her customary grasp on the situation, 
 rose to the moment's requirements superbly. She had 
 readily divined more than half of the cause for Thur- 
 ley's abrupt discomfiture. She had seemed absorbed in 
 the passing show ; but all her faculties had nevertheless 
 been focused on the looks and speeches of their guest, 
 whose obvious madness over Thurley had much more 
 amused than alarmed her. 
 
 She was naturally in possession of all the facts and 
 developments resultant from Thurley's interview with 
 Baron von Hochhaus, and, far more than her protegee, 
 was pleased at the turn of affairs. She was planning 
 such a dinner as Gotham's swelldom had never yet ex- 
 perienced. She meant it to be the one sensation and 
 triumph of the season. Already a brilliant success was 
 promised, and now she felt as if the gods of chance had 
 cast to her hand the most amazing combination of 
 drawing cards conceivable in her " Princess " and the 
 Duke. 
 
 She thoroughly expected sagacious New York to dis- 
 cover his Excellency with its normal celerity for obtain- 
 ing and printing news. She had scarcely a doubt that 
 even this ride would discover his identity in a measur- 
 able degree. 
 
 It did. In the briefest time their carriage was at- 
 tracting such attention as almost to interfere with 
 pleasure's traffic. In their eagerness to have a second, 
 a third, or even a fourth good look at the brilliant young 
 couple, delightedly conversing as they rode, a dozen 
 women ordered their drivers back and forward most 
 eccentrically, to give them their coveted view. 
 
 It became the topic of the park. The topmost 
 notch of Thurley's skill, more than ably abetted by
 
 232 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice's maneuvers, was required to subdue and manipu- 
 late the young Duke's ardor sufficiently to conceal it 
 from outside observation. Thurley talked like a foun- 
 tain, spilling crystalline water of roses. It was like 
 that, a fragrant, bright nothingness of conversation, 
 as nearly endless as she could make it, and all of it 
 chaining the senses of the Duke more and more by its 
 unintentioned charm. 
 
 The drive became a trial before at last it was ended 
 and his Excellency went his way, duly shadowed by one 
 of Zagorsky's " brood," who had waited for hours for 
 his man. Mindless of everything, and boyishly joy- 
 ous, Karl-Wilhelm, already made acquainted with the 
 New York habit of wooing through the offices of roses, 
 proceeded at once to send such a mass of fragrant 
 beauty back to Thurley as even Alice had rarely 
 beheld. 
 
 To conclude a day hardly less exciting than some of 
 its predecessors, the late edition of The Evening 
 Star appeared with a wondrously ingenious sensa- 
 tion, to the effect that Princess Thirvinia and her 
 fiance, Grand Duke Karl-Wilhelm of Saxe-Hertze and 
 Heimer, had been riding that day in Central Park. 
 
 The young Duke, so the story stated, had chartered 
 a vessel to break all transatlantic records, in hastening 
 New Yorkward to the errant Princess, known to have 
 run away from Hertzegotha recently. She fled, it re- 
 lated, from a mating repulsive to her spirit, inasmuch 
 as she had never seen her royal suitor. Their dove-like 
 happiness had now been established in the prettiest royal 
 romance known in years. The results had been brought 
 about, continued the blend of fact and fiction, by the 
 timely arrival of some mighty potentate from Kaiser
 
 233 
 
 Wilhelm himself, said to be Baron Hotchkiss von Seyd- 
 litz, from Berlin, who was still sojourning in Gotham. 
 A wedding journey back to Hertzegotha soon, in the 
 private yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm, was the next develop- 
 ment to be expected.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 A BAITED TRAP 
 
 THE wonderful weather broke. The days had been like 
 jewels of a rosary and were counted to the Cross. 
 Gray skies, a bitter wind, and a snow that turned to 
 rain and sleet, marked the first of the winter's foot- 
 steps, treading north. Behind this desolating bleak- 
 ness there were scores of jewel days to come, granting 
 forgetfulness of all but sunshine; yet all the world 
 seemed an endless dreariness in face of this attack. 
 
 There had been another of the crowded days and 
 nights for Alice and " Princess " Thurley, with another 
 session at the opera, and supper afterward, made more 
 than merely interesting by redoubled efforts on the part 
 of Thurley's undiscouraged admirers to alter a " royal 
 romance." More flowers had come, more letters, more 
 declarations, and even a sparkling gem of poetry from 
 tireless Algy Dearborn. 
 
 Saturday morning, pinching and acrid, with dirty 
 remnants of snow still clinging in the shadows and pro- 
 tected spots, where the wind had hurled the flakes, 
 brought about two incidents of exceptional significance 
 in the fates of all concerned with Princess Thirvinia. 
 
 At ten o'clock a giant liner, in from Liverpool, 
 landed four of the pick of Germany's and Hertzegotha's 
 secret service officers, who were met by Baron von 
 Hochhaus. They had followed him as swiftly as possi- 
 
 234
 
 A BAITED TRAP 335 
 
 ble, and without delay were placed in charge of several 
 men engaged by the Baron himself, and began at once 
 the search for the truant young woman whom Thurley 
 so closely resembled. The Duke had already been 
 found and was kept in sight and guarded day and 
 night. The Baron also made an effort to protect Thur- 
 ley from the lawless creatures known to be upon her 
 trail. 
 
 The second incident appeared to be far less preten- 
 tious. It was simply the arrival of a letter for Thur- 
 ley, sent through the Major's office, in the well known 
 chirography of Edith Steck. It bore no sign of for- 
 gery. On the contrary it convinced the " Princess " 
 instantly that her cousin had written every word 
 and written in anguish and alarm. 
 
 DEAR LADY BOUNTIFUL. You will never forgive me, 
 I know, for what I have found myself obliged to do, and for 
 being once ill. I am back in New York, as you will notice 
 from the date and address above. Don't be angry with 
 me, please; for I was simply obliged to come. I w^s 
 robbed in Lakewood, robbed of every penny I had in the 
 world, all that you and your beautiful friend provided. 
 I hardly even know how it happened, simply that it was 
 taken from my room while I was absent, and that, despite 
 the efforts of all the hotel officials, nothing could, be found 
 of the thief or my funds. 
 
 I had done quite well for several days; but was feeling 
 a slight relapse to my former complaint when this occurred. 
 A kind and generous woman here gave me money to return 
 to New York, and I have come to the old address for 
 shelter, knowing of no other where I would be even slightly 
 welcome. 
 
 I am ashamed to write you such a confession, and should
 
 236 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 have tried to creep back to my old quarters and work, and 
 conceal the facts, were I not so ill and incapable of giving 
 any sort of promise of rent to the woman here who has 
 once more received me under her roof. 
 
 I do not ask you to come; but felt I must at least ac- 
 quaint you with these melancholy facts. It seems so need- 
 less for the world to be filled with women such as I. God 
 bless you for all you have done is the prayer of your 
 grateful 
 
 EDITH. 
 
 A more clever adaptation of words, phrases, and char- 
 acteristics culled from a bright and cheerful letter 
 could scarcely be imagined. It was Edith throughout 
 as Thurley instantly conceded. 
 
 A great gush of sympathy, affection, and compassion 
 surged to her heart. In such bitter cold as this for 
 Edith to be housed in the wretched old hovel, where 
 Thurley had found her before, was insupportable. And 
 for Edith so to blame herself and apologize for being 
 overtaken by calamity, was poignantly affecting. It 
 was like her, like her self-denying ways, to attempt this 
 return to Njew York and work, instead of informing any- 
 one of her plight before she left the warmth and com- 
 fort of her place among the pines. 
 
 " Oh, I'll scold her for that! " said Thurley to her- 
 self. " Treating me as if I were an ogress, when all 
 the poor dear had to do was to let me know of her 
 trouble ! She's got to go back at once ! " 
 
 She went to Alice immediately and gave her the let- 
 ter to read. 
 
 Alice was horrified. " Merciful heavens ! " she said. 
 " What awful things happen to the poor ! Why 
 couldn't some rich old woman have sustained this 
 wretched loss? Why couldn't they come and rob me,
 
 A BAITED TRAP 237 
 
 for instance, instead of a girl like that? We'll send 
 James down at once." 
 
 " To drive me? Of course, if you wish to," Thur- 
 ley answered ; " but I went before in the cars and I'd 
 just as soon do so again. In fact, to arrive there in 
 a carriage it's hardly the thing that Edith's cousin 
 would do." 
 
 " Very well," said Alice, " if you must go, child, a 
 morning like this, you may let James drive you some- 
 where near and wait to drive you home." 
 
 " Perhaps that might be better," Thurley agreed. 
 "I'd like to take a few things, anyway, just a few 
 flowers and things, and I wish I had an oil stove. 
 Her room must be colder than a barn, a day like this ; 
 but perhaps I can send her one in." 
 
 " But she mustn't be there long," said Alice. " Send 
 her right back to Lakewood; to-day, if she's well 
 enough to go. Poor dear ! she deserves it now if she 
 didn't before." 
 
 Thurley was feverishly eager for the start. She 
 changed her dress while Alice was 'phoning for the 
 carriage. 
 
 In a wild, stinging sleet, once more hurled upon the 
 city, she was presently driven away, with a promise to 
 return by one o'clock. 
 
 The ride was long and cold ; but Thurley was warmed 
 by the tender emotions of her being and her indigna- 
 tion at the unknown thieves who had brought about 
 Edith's discomfort. 
 
 She alighted at last a block from the house she had 
 visited before, and trudged sturdily down the slippery 
 walk, entirely unprotected from the storm, so filled 
 were her arms with bundles. 
 
 The place seemed forsaken and forbidding, its win-
 
 238 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 dows curtained, its aspect one of chill and dreariness. 
 Thurley shivered for Edith as she mounted the steps 
 and rang the bell. 
 
 After waiting a time that seemed very long, she rang 
 again, and a faint sound of stirring within renewed 
 her confidence that her cousin would soon be discovered. 
 Then the door was opened and a little old woman 
 blocked the way. 
 
 " Miss Steck," said Thurley. " I came to see Miss 
 Steck. Is she in ? May I go right up ? " 
 
 " Third floor, rear," rasped the housekeeper shortly, 
 and turned at once to disappear in the darkened hall 
 below. 
 
 Breathlessly Thurley stumbled up the dimly lighted 
 stairs, coming all rosy and panting to the door she re- 
 membered as having been Edith's before. Not a soul 
 had she seen, not a sound had she heard in all the 
 ghostly place. It had never occurred to her mind to 
 be daunted or to hesitate a moment on her way. 
 
 She waited a moment only, to catch an easier breath, 
 then knocked on the soiled, disfigured panel of the bar- 
 rier. 
 
 " Come in," said a weak, half-muffled voice, and Thur- 
 ley, overburdened with her flowers, fruits, and com- 
 forts entered impetuously. 
 
 Instantly something heavy, blinding, and pungent 
 with a stifling odor was thrown about her head. She 
 dropped her bundles, obeying an instinct to fight for 
 air, and struggled in a blanket, held roughly round 
 and over her face, while her arms were pinioned to her 
 sides. 
 
 " Edith ! " she called, or tried to call, more and more 
 stifled, and, fast succumbing to some dizzying, engulf-
 
 A BAITED TRAP 239 
 
 ing lethargy, she felt a sense of being closely sur- 
 rounded by and gripped in the jaws of countless wolves, 
 before blackness descended upon her. 
 
 Her last sensation was of all the room, turned hid- 
 eously ebon, crushing in upon her, walls and ceiling, 
 and then she knew no more. 
 
 A large automobile, with a limousine body, closely 
 curtained, had driven up at the curb outside and halted 
 there. Five minutes later three wrapped figures, sup- 
 porting between them what appeared to be a helpless 
 invalid, descended the steps, made a hurried entrance 
 to the car, with their charge, and were rapidly driven 
 away.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 A STILL ALARM 
 
 AT one o'clock, with the storm increasing in fury and 
 threatening to become a blizzard, Alice Van Kirk was 
 already impatient and blaming herself for having per- 
 mitted Thurley to respond so recklessly in person to 
 the needs of her unfortunate cousin. 
 
 She remembered the dread with which she had per- 
 mitted Thurley's visit to the place on the former occa- 
 sion. With a sense of uneasiness and indefinable pre- 
 monition expanding in her more subconscious self, as 
 she thought of the weather, of Thurley's unprotected 
 condition, and her beauty that marked her at once for 
 attention, she rebuked herself anew for permitting the 
 girl to undertake another of these doubtful excursions 
 alone. 
 
 She stood by the window commanding a view of the 
 avenue as well as the cross street running east, eagerly 
 scanning every carriage that might contain the 
 " Princess." Countless important trifles were neglected. 
 She owned herself frankly worried, even before she 
 might in reason have expected Thurley home. 
 
 By half past one, with the avenue all but deserted, 
 in the fury of the gale and driving snow, Alice was 
 fidgeting, feverish, and thoroughly distressed. She 
 felt so utterly helpless. She was aggravated by the 
 knowledge that the house where Edith lived was a hor- 
 
 240
 
 A STILL ALARM 
 
 rid place, without a telephone and without proper heat 
 for such a day. Thurley would be certain to contract 
 a cold, if nothing worse occurred to make this adven- 
 ture the last of its kind that should ever be permitted. 
 
 Alone with her servants, Alice felt more than ever 
 isolated and haunted by multiplying fears. At two 
 o'clock, unable to endure the uncertainty longer, and 
 possessed of all manner of suggestions and suspicions, 
 she ordered one of the servants to go at once, with the 
 car, to the place of Edith's residence and determine 
 what had happened. 
 
 " 'Phone me at once, before starting home," she in- 
 structed, concealing her agitation as best she might, 
 " and insist that Miss Thurley return without delay, 
 even though her task is unfinished." 
 
 She was certain Thurley would come before the man 
 could reach the house. She told herself she felt re- 
 lieved, now that something had been done. Neverthe- 
 less, she oscillated back to the window times innumer- 
 able, straining her eyes to peer far down the avenue 
 gloom, to detect the form of James and the dark maroon 
 of her carriage. 
 
 When the 'phone bell finally jangled its demand for 
 attention her nerves were all on edge. She hastened to 
 the instrument. 
 
 "Well! Hello! Hello! Is that you, John? 
 You're coming home? " 
 
 Like the voice of a ghost, hard riding on the storm, 
 the hollow reply came back. " I couldn't find nothink 
 of 'er, Ma'am. Not there, Ma'am. The 'ouse was 
 happarently hempty, Ma'am no one to hopen the 
 door nothink alive about the place, Ma'am." 
 
 Alice felt a sudden, overwhelming confirmation of
 
 24,2 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 her nebulous fears. Something sank in her bosom lead- 
 enly. " Are you sure you had the right number, 
 John ? " and she gave it again with most distinct par- 
 ticularity. 
 
 There could be no doubt that John had applied for 
 admission to the house that Edith had named. 
 
 Alice all but moaned. " But," she demanded, " where 
 is James? " 
 
 " Drivink up and down, Ma'am, to keep 'is 'orses 
 from freezing. He 'asn't seen nothink of Miss Thur- 
 ley. 'E's stoppink where she posted 'im, Ma'am, to 
 wait." 
 
 Alice hesitated, a settled conviction of disaster to 
 Thurley taking unopposed possession of her being. 
 
 " John," she called, " why didn't you ask at the other 
 houses near? Go and do so at once and 'phone 
 again." 
 
 " So I did, Ma'am," John replied across the wire. 
 " I knocked up three of the neighbors, and two knows 
 nothink at all, Ma'am, and the third old person says 
 all the parties in the 'ouse I referred to moved out and 
 went away this morning Ma'am, takin' a sick one with 
 them, and goin' in a car." 
 
 " When ? " cried Alice sharply. " Was it after 
 Miss Thurley arrived? " 
 
 " The old party didn't say, Ma'am, not having seen 
 Miss Thurley arrive. But four persons left before 
 twelve o'clock; one, as she says, bein' happarently 
 queer and so weak she had to be carried." 
 
 " Oh ! " Alice swayed where she stood, but grasped 
 at her mastery of self and voice with all her strength. 
 " You and James may both come home." 
 
 She did not hear his "Thank you, Ma'am," as she
 
 A STILL ALARM 43 
 
 hung the receiver on the hook. She simply stood 
 stock still and stared at the instrument which had crys- 
 tallized her alarms. 
 
 She was utterly faint, and felt a sense of helpless- 
 ness, together with a wild, unreasoning wish to rush at 
 once to the house herself, do something, anything, per- 
 vading all her being. Her conviction that Thurley 
 was the victim of some fiendish plot was absolute. She 
 had felt a premonition from the first and its warning 
 had been unheeded, so vague and senseless had it ap- 
 peared. Yet it did not seem possible that anything ac- 
 tually harmful, malignant, could have come to the girl 
 in a time so brief as this. 
 
 " It's the Princess business ! " she exclaimed aloud, 
 in a sudden lucubration, where her mind was groping 
 for a reason. The Baron, the Duke, the others, she 
 thought, were someway responsible. There was some- 
 thing political, something hidden, in a matter involving 
 so much to Hertzegotha; but what? Why take 
 Thurley, whom the Baron knew to be an American 
 girl? 
 
 Her thoughts ran wild as she stood there, big eyed 
 with fear and helplessness. The runaway Princess 
 might have died and the Kingdom require her 
 double ! So much was at stake, as the Baron had said, 
 and he himself had requested Thurley to continue in 
 her role! 
 
 But what to do, and how to discover anything, and 
 how to save the trusting girl she had grown so dearly 
 to love. Her natural thought was the Chief of Po- 
 lice and all the scions of the law. She evdn started a 
 step toward the 'phone to alarm every station in the 
 town.
 
 244 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 But she halted instantly. To advertise the disap- 
 pearance of the girl like this might be exceedingly un- 
 wise. It would warn the possible conspirators, who 
 might have committed some act of violence; it would 
 wholly divulge the final facts as to who Miss Thurley 
 was. Moreover, it might not be a case for the bungling 
 police, especially if the Baron or the Duke was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 But something must be done and done at once ! 
 To stand here, inactive, paralyzed with dread and fear 
 of some terrible thing that had happened, was the ac- 
 tion of a child. There must be something there 
 had to be something to do! Yet to whom could she 
 turn, and what should she say, and how act swiftly and 
 effectively to get the " Princess " back? 
 
 The 'phone bell rang again, and she started galvan- 
 ically, her hand flying quickly to her heart. A wild 
 hope surged through her fears. It might be Thurley ! 
 
 With nerveless hand she caught at the black receiver 
 and placed it to her ear. " Hello ! " 
 
 " Hullo ! '' said a cheery voice, across the wire. " Is 
 that you, Alice? This is Robley. It's such a gem of 
 a day I thought perhaps Pd find you in, and you'd let 
 me come, just to celebrate putting my wrist back in 
 commission. What do you say? " 
 
 She had never felt so glad in her life for the thought 
 of a man to give her help. Of all persons in the world, 
 including her absent husband, none could have been 
 more welcome in her helpless plight than Robley Stuy- 
 verant. 
 
 " Oh, come at once ! " she answered in the instrument. 
 " Come just as soon as you can ! " She would trust 
 no more to the wires, which not infrequently leak, but
 
 A STILL ALARM 
 
 sank into a chair, already made weaker for the very 
 thought of leaning on someone else. 
 
 She had nearly ten minutes in which to calm herself 
 before Robley was admitted below. He was directed 
 at once to Alice's one particular " real home room," 
 where he had no sooner entered than he realized some- 
 thing was amiss. 
 
 "Alone?" he said, as he gave her his hand the 
 right hand, offered for the first time since his accident. 
 You're pale. Not ill, I hope ? " 
 
 " Sit down," 1 said Alice, so absolutely colorless and 
 smileless that Stuyverant was alarmed. " Something 
 dreadful has happened, Robley and Heaven must 
 have sent you to the 'phone ! I need you so ! " 
 
 " Nothing has happened to Miss Thurley? " he said, 
 his own dearest thought thus prompt to apply the 
 worry accurately. " What is it, then ? " 
 
 " Heaven knows I wish I knew! " she said, and rap- 
 idly, briefly, she reviewed the entire morning's events, 
 including the statement of the servant John, who was 
 due to arrive at any moment. 
 
 " I don't know what to think or how to act," she 
 presently concluded, having risen to walk erratically 
 and nervously about the room. " I am simply con- 
 vinced she was lured to the house in question on a blind 
 and has been abducted, spirited away if it isn't 
 something worse ! I hailed your coming as a godsend. 
 Now tell me what to do ! " 
 
 Stuyverant's face had assumed a set expression of in- 
 tensity, heightened by pallor. The depth of his feel- 
 ing for Thurley had never been gauged before, and the 
 grip at his heart could not measure it now, as it was 
 at length to be measured.
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Who in Heaven's name could have a motive, a rea- 
 son for desiring to abduct her? " he asked. " That is 
 the first thing to know." 
 
 "You have read in the papers that Grand Duke 
 Karl and Baron von Hochhaus are both in town," said 
 Alice, " both having come to America in record-break- 
 ing haste, to search for Princess Thirvinia " 
 " Yes ; but these newspaper rumors " 
 " Both the Baron and the Duke have been at this 
 house ! " Alice interrupted. " The Duke has all but 
 insisted that Thurley go at once with him to Hertze- 
 gotha." 
 
 Stuyverant stared at her blankly. " They've both 
 been here? It is not a newspaper yarn? The whole 
 thing might be a sort of political intrigue? The 
 Baron also made demands, or requests ? " 
 
 "Requests entirely," said Alice, who had checked 
 herself at the very brink of revealing the truth con- 
 cerning Thurley's. origin. " Don't you see that al- 
 most anything terrible could have happened, that it 
 must all have been a trick? " 
 
 Stuyverant had risen, even as Alice once more sank 
 in her chair. " Perhaps I haven't any right to inter- 
 fere," he said ; " but Thurley chose a life for herself, 
 perhaps even escape from her country and the Duke. 
 She is more to me than perhaps you realize. Her 
 wishes and her rights rights to freedom and the lib- 
 erty to go unmolested to give her kindness and sympa- 
 thy to the afflicted have got to be respected ! Such 
 conduct as this would be unpardonable, even in Em- 
 peror William himself! I mean to get to the bottom 
 of this no matter what the sacrifice, or who may be 
 involved ! I'll find her, I'll help her, I'll get her back, 
 if they shoot me down for my pains ! "
 
 247 
 
 " But do something now, this minute," said Alice, 
 " before it is all to late ! We haven't any time for 
 walking up and down and talking! What do you ad- 
 vise? " 
 
 " The first thing to do is to make ourselves sure that 
 something is wrong some plot, some trap has been 
 laid. The letter, you say, was from a girl she sent to 
 Lakewood some time ago? " 
 
 " An Edith Steck, who wrote that she had been robbed 
 and had therefore returned, and was ill and greatly in 
 need, at her old address, the address where Thurley 
 had gone to see her before." 
 
 Stuyverant went to the 'phone and snatched the re- 
 ceiver from the hook. " Give me the Western Union 
 Telegraph Company in a hurry ! " he demanded a mo- 
 ment later. " I haven't time to look the number up." 
 
 " What is it? " said Alice. " What do you mean to 
 do?" 
 
 " Wire to Edith Steck at Lakewood. You said 
 she's at the Pines? If she's there all right, we'll know 
 it was all a job." 
 
 " But her letter, mailed right here in town? " 
 
 " Perhaps a clever forgery. It's possible 
 Hello! Western Union? Take a message, please, and 
 make it a special with paid reply, and charge me any 
 price you like, but get it off and the answer back in an 
 hour. Yes, Robley Stuyverant. All right, ready? 
 ' Miss Edith Steck, Hotel Pines, Lakewood, New Jer- 
 sey. Kindly wire your condition at once. Important. 
 Reply paid.' Sign it ' Robley Stuyverant,' " and he 
 added Alice's address. " Thank you. Rush it, please. 
 Good-by." 
 
 " But why the girl's condition? " said Alice excitedly. 
 "What will she think?"
 
 248 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Anything she pleases perhaps that some situa- 
 tion depends on her health. The main idea is to find 
 out at once whether she is there or not." 
 
 "Then why not use the long distance 'phone?" 
 
 " I'm an ass ! " he declared, and back he shot to the 
 instrument and was presently making his demands. 
 
 Fully twenty minutes of time were consumed before 
 the connections could be made. Both Robley and Alice 
 were pacing restlessly to and fro in the meantime specu- 
 lating, surmising, attempting to deduce from the little 
 they knew what might be lying beneath the deed so 
 boldly and unexpectedly committed. 
 
 James and John had both returned, and were neg- 
 lected, while Stuyverant waited on his wire. Then at 
 length the bell rang out its call and the Hotel Pines 
 was on the farther end, the clerk's voice sounding so 
 clearly that Alice could distinguish every word. 
 
 "Miss Steck is here, yes, sir," said the voice. " Stood 
 at the desk not five minutes ago, asking for a letter. 
 Shall I call her to the 'phone? " 
 
 " Thank you, no," said Stuyverant. " Is she well? " 
 
 " She said so, and she looks it." 
 
 " Thank you. Kindly let her know a wire is on the 
 way, asking about her health, and tell her the 'phone 
 was a second thought and not to bother with an an- 
 swer. This is Mr. Stuyverant speaking. Thank you. 
 I think of nothing further. 'By." He turned to 
 Alice. " My suspicion is confirmed." 
 
 '* Thurley was lured to the house by a forgery? " 
 
 " Without doubt. I want to see James and John a 
 moment; then I'm going myself to that house." 
 
 " I'll get you the letter," said Alice. " I'm sure it 
 was left in Thurley's room."
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 A SHATTERED HOPE 
 
 NEW YORK is filled with houses of indifference, de- 
 graded and degrading old shells, where anyone, of how- 
 soever dubious a calling, may rent a shelter, alleged to 
 be " furnished," and be certain no questions will be 
 asked, no matter what the uses to which the apartment 
 may be adapted. 
 
 The house where Edith Steck had found her miser- 
 able lodging was one of this character, as Stuyverant 
 realized as soon as he entered the door. He was there- 
 fore handicapped at the outset, since no one resident 
 therein would divulge the slightest fact that might be 
 concealed or evaded, by ignorance or art. 
 
 The same dull little female creature who had admit- 
 ted Thurley opened the door at his knock. She was 
 either half deaf, half idiotic, or an excellent actor of 
 the part. By dint of repeated questions and not a 
 little flattery, Stuyverant elicited the information that 
 she was not the landlady, that the latter was out, and 
 had been for two or three days, and also that some 
 " perfect lady " had occupied the room once rented to 
 Miss Steck for several days. 
 
 The " perfect lady " had been veiled when she came 
 and had never been seen by this informant, who was 
 merely a servant in the place. 
 
 This was deception number one, for she herself was 
 proprietor of the utterly neglected house. Stuyverant 
 paid her a dollar to take him to the room in question, 
 
 24,)
 
 250 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 alleging that a young woman friend had called there 
 that morning and left a trifle behind. 
 
 The " trifle " was on the floor, when he came to the 
 place the bunch of roses Thurley had carried to 
 comfort a comfortless soul. Convinced that no one 
 else could have taken them there, Stuyverant took them 
 eagerly, then glanced about the place. 
 
 It was simply a wretched little back-hall cave, dirty, 
 ill-smelling, abominably furnished with rickety old junk, 
 and littered everywhere with half-smoked cigarettes. 
 There was nothing, absolutely nothing, to furnish the 
 slightest clue as to recently departed occupants, save 
 the roses already secured. What other parcels Thur- 
 ley had brought had been carried away with herself. 
 
 When Stuyverant left he possessed the meager intel- 
 ligence that the " perfect lady " of the veil was tall and 
 that several men had called to pay her their respects 
 at various times. His most skillful corkscrew methods 
 could extract no more than that. As a matter of fact, 
 the wizened little woman knew almost no more herself. 
 She had seen little of her recent guest and nothing of 
 her departure. 
 
 Stuyverant acknowledged to himself that he was al- 
 most as much in the dark as he had been half an hour 
 earlier. He felt certain that Thurley had actually 
 been to the room and dropped her roses at the moment 
 of some attack. He was convinced it was she who had 
 been seen placed helplessly in an automobile. But con- 
 cerning the motive, Thurley's condition when abducted, 
 where she was taken, and the perpetrators of the out- 
 rage, he was helplessly at sea. 
 
 He telephoned to Alice, relating the little he had man- 
 aged to discover; then informed her that he would call
 
 A SHATTERED HOPE 251 
 
 by eight at the latest, deliberately set to work to dis- 
 cover, if possible, the abiding place of Wenck and 
 Baron von Hochhaus. 
 
 Some hazy idea of confronting the Baron and possi- 
 bly surprising from him even the merest hint concern- 
 ing Princess Thirvinia was in his mind, together with a 
 wonder at himself for daring to presume so far as to 
 meddle with the state affairs of a foreign Kingdom and 
 its royal truants. 
 
 He only knew he loved this glorious girl, who had 
 come to his assistance in the park. He only knew he 
 must serve her now, if it lay in his power, with the final 
 drop of blood in his heart. 
 
 But his search was vain. For more than two hours 
 he was driven up and down, from one small high class 
 hostelry to another, before at last he was rewarded by 
 the information that two Germans, neither one named 
 Wenck or Baron Hochhaus, but who might have regis- 
 tered under pseudonyms, and might have been the par- 
 ties sought, had stayed in this house two days. They 
 had gone together; but no one knew where, as neither 
 received or expected letters here and had left no future 
 address. 
 
 It was nearly half past eight at night, and the storm 
 still raged savagely, when he came again to Alice Van 
 Kirk's to be mocked by his evening's search. 
 
 Both Wenck and Baron von Hochhaus had arrived 
 five minutes before him, and Alice had just come down! 
 
 Tempted to send in his name and request admission 
 to the conference, Stuyverant curbed the impulse and 
 went to the great empty drawing room to wait impa- 
 tiently the outcome of this wholly unexpected develop- 
 ment.
 
 252 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice, in the reception room, had scarcely more than 
 greeted her distinguished visitor, concealing as best 
 she might her state of agitation, when the servant, 
 acting on instructions, quietly announced Robley's 
 arrival. 
 
 She hesitated a moment, on the point of asking Stuy- 
 verant in ; then resolved on a course whereby she might 
 a little sound the Baron and possibly discover vital 
 facts by the policy of permitting him to reveal the pur- 
 pose of his visit while she continued to act as if nothing 
 had occurred. 
 
 The Baron was laboring under rigidly suppressed 
 emotions. Grave fears were entertained by himself 
 and Wenck, concerning not only the young Duke Karl, 
 but also Princess Thirvinia, still missing and perhaps 
 never to be found. At most, his secret service officers 
 had learned that some young woman, exceedingly 
 beautiful and unknown, had recently succumbed to sud- 
 den illness in Jersey City, under conditions that vaguely 
 suggested she might have been the royal runaway they 
 sought. And Grand Duke Karl, readily run to cover 
 upon his second visit to the Van Kirk mansion, had 
 madly proclaimed his love for " Miss Thurley," whom 
 alone he wished to wed. 
 
 The Baron was thus doubly bewildered and harassed. 
 If the Princess still lived and was discovered, these two 
 must wed and be returned to Hertzegotha forthwith. 
 If it should be discovered, beyond peradventure, on the 
 other hand, that Princess Thirvinia had paid for her 
 folly with her life, it might not be altogether preposter- 
 ous to persuade Miss Thurley, as her double, to assume 
 her royal place. The adjustment of a matter so deli- 
 cate was not a simple affair.
 
 A SHATTERED HOPE 253 
 
 The Baron was not in the least discomfited now to 
 discover Thurley temporarily absent from the scene. 
 
 " I shall approach the subject of my appearance 
 frankly," he said to Alice, as soon as mere conventional 
 greetings had been exchanged, " and perhaps it is as 
 well to request permission to ask a few questions of 
 yourself at once." 
 
 " Please feel quite at liberty to do so," said Alice, 
 masking her excitement and feeling of doubt with a 
 smile. " Perhaps I may be able to assist you." 
 
 " Please acquit me of any desire to intrude personal 
 curiosity in a matter become exceedingly grave," he 
 begged courteously, " and permit me to apologize in 
 advance for the necessity of pursuing my country's 
 requirements in a matter of some delicacy." 
 
 Alice nodded, and he continued. 
 
 " Perhaps Miss Thurley has already acquainted you 
 with the substance of our last conference? " 
 
 " Yes, to some extent." 
 
 " That is well and should save considerable time. 
 May I now inquire what attitude of mind Miss Thurley 
 expressed or betrayed concerning his Excellency the 
 young Duke ? " 
 
 " Why," 1 said Alice, " I think she hardly knew her- 
 self." 
 
 " He was honored by a carriage visit with yourself 
 and Miss Thurley recently?" 
 
 " He drove with us, yes." 
 
 " I am aware of his instant infatuation with and high 
 regard for your protegee. Is it possible now, or might 
 it ever be possible for Miss Thurley to requite his es- 
 teem his love, in a word should occasion arise to 
 make such an outcome desirable or expedient?"
 
 254, THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice was certain now the genuine Princess was dead 
 and Thurley politically required. She was almost 
 equally convinced that Thurley had actually been ab- 
 ducted for this reason and the Baron was here to make 
 all possible amends, without, however, relinquishing his 
 captive. 
 
 She answered incautiously, " Was this the reason you 
 desired and requested her to continue in the role, some- 
 what thrust upon her by an overzealous public ? " 
 
 He colored slightly. " Certainly not. At the time 
 of that request no such necessity seemed even remotely 
 suggested, believe me, Madam. There may be no such 
 necessity now. Perhaps I am premature in preparing 
 for any such emergency. I have merely asked you the 
 question." 
 
 Alice felt, a little, the constraint of his position. She 
 resolved upon a bolder stroke. 
 
 " A young woman like Thurley might learn to care 
 very dearly for any handsome young man; but not, 
 Baron Hochhaus, by force ! " 
 
 He looked his genuine surprise. " By force? Most 
 certainly not, my dear Mrs. Van Kirk. Miss Thurley's 
 entire cooperation^ if not her voluntary, spontaneous 
 response to the young Duke's exalted emotion, would 
 be an absolute essential to the furtherance of any such 
 development as fancy and necessity might presuggest 
 at this perhaps untimely moment." 
 
 Alice had almost hoped for proof that the Baron had 
 procured Thurley's spiriting away. She could have 
 been certain, at least, of the girl's comfort, security, 
 and freedom from violence or danger. Now she under- 
 went a doubt, so entirely candid was the Baron's speech 
 and demeanor. Yet she tried another tack.
 
 A SHATTERED HOPE 255 
 
 " Is not the matter, the question, after all, one to be 
 answered only by Miss Thurley herself? " 
 
 " Most certainly, in its finality. Yet I welcomed 
 this opportunity of questioning yourself, her confidant 
 and friend, as a diplomatic forestep, should occasion 
 arise for any such negotiations later. It is highly 
 probable that such a proposition may never be broached 
 again. I sincerely trust there may be no such neces- 
 sity. Indeed, my next inquiry may occasion some as- 
 tonishment for its opposing character." 
 
 Alice was thoroughly puzzled, and, losing a species 
 of hope to which she had clung, since if Thurley had to 
 be carried off because of foreign politics, it were better 
 far she should be in the hands of the Baron than caught 
 in the toils of conspirators wholly unknown. She grew 
 impatient to demand all the Baron knew. Yet still she 
 smiled. 
 
 " Your next inquiry? " she said. " Directed also to 
 me?" 
 
 " It is perhaps just as well directed to you." He 
 leaned a little nearer. " In the event of our State's de- 
 sire in the matter, would it be too much to request Miss 
 Thurley to refuse to see more of the Duke, to discour- 
 age him finally, once and for all, dismiss him with 
 friendship at most, bidding him return forthwith to 
 Hertzegotha, there to resume the obligations of his 
 life?" 
 
 Alice gazed at him blankly, amazed at such a ques- 
 tion, on the heels of what had preceded. 
 
 The Baron gave her no time to reply. " I perceive 
 I have too far presumed upon your relationship with 
 Miss Thurley," he hastened to add. " May I beg the 
 privilege of an interview with Miss Thurley herself? "
 
 256 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice's final hope was gone and with it her wish or 
 need for further concealment. She rose abruptly. 
 " But, Baron Hochhaus, Thurley is not here. She is 
 gone! She has disappeared. I have the most terrible 
 fears for her safety her life ! I hoped that you had 
 abducted her caused her abduction anything but 
 this horrible uncertainty and dread ! " 
 
 The Baron too had risen. His face betrayed his 
 complete astonishment and shock. " Gone? " he re- 
 peated " Abduction ? You do not mean to say " 
 
 " She went this morning to assist an ailing friend 
 or so she thought. The letter that summoned her was 
 evidently a forgery, a blind. I am fearfully distraught. 
 Mr. Stuyverant has been the only one to help me. He 
 has just come in from a fruitless search of the house 
 where she went this morning." 
 
 The Baron's distress was more than mere compas- 
 sion ; it was grave concern. He had feared for some 
 such development. He had known of the dangers im- 
 pending and surrounding the putative Princess when 
 requesting Thurley to continue the role. He had even 
 made efforts toward the discovery and apprehension of 
 Zagorsky and her following; but had felt the discov- 
 ery of the genuine Princess and the protection of Duke 
 Karl to be a more immediate pressure upon himself and 
 his men. Now that this outcome had established the 
 menace to Princess and Duke, he was startled, as well 
 as afflicted with a sense of guilt. Yet he dared not be- 
 tray his convictions as to what had happened to Alice 
 Van Kirk's protegee. 
 
 " I am shocked at this intelligence," he said in all 
 sincerity. " Believe me, I shall make every possible 
 endeavor to assist you in discovering and recovering
 
 A SHATTERED HOPE 257 
 
 your companion. Excluding myself, you have no sus- 
 picions as to who might commit such an outrage? " 
 
 " How could I have? " said Alice. " She hadn't an 
 enemy in the world! I was certain it must be some- 
 thing political, something I may have brought upon 
 her by permitting a silly world to believe her your 
 Princess Thirvinia ! " 
 
 The Baron took a quick, impatient turn down the 
 length of the rug and back. His perturbation was ob- 
 vious. His rage against Zagorsky was consuming. 
 " That such a thing could happen, in daylight here 
 in your city ! " he said. " The punishment should be 
 so swift and terrible for crimes of this dastardly na- 
 ture ! You shall have my help ! Did you say Mr. 
 Stuyverant has come? I esteem him my friend. I may 
 see him now?" 
 
 " I wish you to see him, please," said Alice. " But 
 he is not aware that Miss Thurley is not Princess 
 Thirvinia, a matter which I prefer to leave undisturbed, 
 if possible." 
 
 " The suggestion meets my entire approval and de- 
 sire," said the Baron, and Stuyverant was summoned 
 to the room. 
 
 The meeting between himself and the Baron was cor- 
 dial. Then in the briefest time he was made ac- 
 quainted with the Baron's innocence in the present mat- 
 ter and his earnest desire to promote the greatest pos- 
 sible activity for Thurley's return to her friends. 
 Hochhaus did not, however, cast an illuminating ray 
 upon the facts in his and Wenck's possession concern- 
 ing Zagorsky; and Wenck, remaining in the farthest 
 corner of the room, was barely aware that important 
 complications had developed.
 
 258 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Stuyverant related all he had found at the house and 
 room where the trap had been prepared, adding a brief 
 account of the means whereby he had discovered that 
 Edith Steck was still at Lakewood. 
 
 Reflecting that death could have claimed Princess 
 Thirvinia, the Baron was thoroughly disturbed and in- 
 censed. Convinced that an effort would be made to en- 
 trap or even assassinate the Duke, he became a wary, 
 sagacious element in the game, primarily actuated by 
 his country's needs, and relentlessly pledged to the con- 
 servation of its integrity, no matter what the sacrifice 
 to other beings or their nations. And yet for the ade- 
 quate punishment of Zagorsky and her lawless follow- 
 ers he would almost have given a hand or an arm, to be 
 lopped from his sinewy body. His agitation seemed 
 to Stuyverant a confirmation of Thurley's royal char- 
 acter. 
 
 There was nothing to be done that night, however, 
 save to counsel Stuyverant to avoid the municipal po- 
 lice and report for a conference the following day with 
 the secret agents imported to search for the Princess. 
 
 The address for which Robley had searched all even- 
 ing was readily supplied, together with the names under 
 which both the Baron and Wenck were registered, af- 
 ter which, with every assurance of his lasting friend- 
 ship and zealous action in this calamity, Hochhaus 
 withdrew, leaving Alice, and Stuyverant as well, 
 blindly groping for a hope or a clue upon which to pro- 
 ceed in the morning.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 THE ICE BLUE EYES 
 
 WHEN Thurley awoke the day end sun was obliquely 
 breaking through the clouds and storm and streaming 
 coldly in at the window of a barren room, the features 
 of which suggested the hazy continuance of an ugly 
 dream. Her mind was dazed and uncertain. She was 
 ill and faint. Only the dimmest shadows of memory 
 came to restore the morning's occurrences. Vaporous 
 ghosts of her last sensations at Edith's room haunted 
 her half illumined mind. She closed her eyes, vaguely 
 convinced that she was lying in her bed, and must soon 
 arouse and prepare to go down to her work with Major 
 Phipps. She felt she had overslept, dreaming some 
 wondrous experience like a modern fairy story, wherein 
 she had almost been a Princess almost been 
 
 She opened her eyes again, feeling something 
 strangely hard in her hand. It felt like a chain ; but 
 she did not immediately raise it, or raise her head to 
 see. She was still too weak, too indifferent. The sun- 
 light pained her eyes. What a strange room it was, 
 after all, with its broken ceiling, its ragged walls, and 
 the shattered chair and table ! 
 
 A pain went through her head, as certain functions 
 of her heart and blood resumed their normal ways. 
 With a hurtful throb a frightening memory surged 
 through the dullness of her brain. She sat up sud- 
 denly, turning actively and staring with blazing eyes 
 
 259
 
 260 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 at a woman who sat on a second bed, a foot removed 
 from her own. 
 
 Confusion, rushes of blood to her brain, disordered 
 recollections, and new alarms plunged pellmell into the 
 cavities of her skull, congesting her brain with illness, 
 pains, a tumult of thoughts and emotions. A sicken- 
 ing sense of revulsion overwhelmed all else momentarily, 
 as she recognized, but failed for a second to place, the 
 eyes at which she was gazing. 
 
 Then she knew them those poisonous, ice blue 
 eyes so intently fastened upon her that night in the 
 Horse Show box ! A shudder of cold, and weakness and 
 disgust, passed rapidly through her frame, for the 
 woman smiled and her smile was worse than her 
 eyes! 
 
 " Oh ! " said Thurley, and she sank on the pillow of 
 the couch once more, racked by pains and haunting 
 dread. 
 
 " Come to at last? " said Zagorsky in German, her ut- 
 terance one of sneering and contempt. " Didn't know 
 where you were at first, or how it happened? Think 
 how you can pass the time guessing where you are and 
 why you came ! " She laughed abominably. " It 
 wouldn't be so comfortable and warm if I didn't have 
 to stay in the room myself, I can tell you that! So 
 thank your fortunate stars I'm here ! " 
 
 The vapors and ghosts of memory in Thurley's 
 mind became real substance, with painful celerity. All 
 events of the morning crowded back in their sequence, 
 like a series of shocks, and again she felt herself being 
 stifled and blotted from existence. She was wholly at 
 loss to understand the situation or the reasons for any- 
 one's attack upon herself, however, and found the
 
 THE ICE BLUE EYES 261 
 
 woman here so utterly repellent that nameless fears 
 were her portion. 
 
 Once more she became aware that something foreign 
 lay in the grasp of her hand. She drew the hard thing 
 upward, as she once more rose to a sitting posture. 
 It was a light steel chain, secured to a girdle of similar 
 metal fastened about her waist. She was still fully 
 dressed. A new sense of chill went down her spine. 
 
 "What does all this mean? " she said, her hand go- 
 ing up to her cheek and forehead. " What have I done 
 to be chained here like an animal? " 
 
 " You've been one," laughed the woman mirthlessly, 
 " a pampered, pretty animal, useless, if not even dan- 
 gerous, if you have the brains to understand me, 
 which is doubtful, and quite properly chained at 
 last." 
 
 The other end of the chain was fastened to the bed, 
 which was of iron. This Thurley comprehended in one 
 discerning glance. Half formed fears of what it 
 might all imply became inescapable dreads, as she once 
 more faced the poisonous light balefully gleaming in 
 the woman's eyes. 
 
 The sun ray was withdrawn, as a cloud obscured the 
 great cold orb, and a chilly draft that an odorous oil 
 stove could neither dispel nor greatly modify swept like 
 another inimical presence across the girl's warm cheek. 
 
 " Have I ever harmed you ? " she inquired, ill again 
 with an intuition that appeal, query, or reason would 
 be wasted on this malignant looking being. " Have I 
 ever harmed anyone at all? " 
 
 "Harmed? Huh!" 
 
 Thurley tried another tack. " Will you tell me 
 where I am? "
 
 262 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Didn't I tell you to guess and occupy your time? " 
 
 All that Thurley could recall seemed very far away. 
 She wondered how far it really was. She asked, " Is 
 it permissible to inquire the time of day? " 
 
 " Nfearly five o'clock." 
 
 " Thank you. Saturday? " 
 
 " Saturday." 
 
 Thoughts of Alice and of how she might be worry- 
 ing crept between the baffled conjectures, alarms, and 
 turmoil in Thurley's brain, and aroused her to some- 
 thing approximating anger. " This is infamous ! " 
 she said. " It was cowardly inhuman ! " She re- 
 membered Edith. " You haven't brought Miss Steck 
 here, too, in her wretched condition? " 
 
 The woman reveled in her captive's impotent 
 warmth. " Miss Steck is still in Lakewood useless 
 to the Cause." 
 
 Thurley looked at her, puzzled alike by this state- 
 ment concerning Edith and the reference to a " cause," 
 her active mind swiftly flashing from one speculation 
 to another, in her effort to fathom the feeling of ani- 
 mosity against herself which the woman manifestly har- 
 bored. 
 
 " Still in Lakewood? " she repeated. " But her let- 
 teroh!" 
 
 A dim and wavering light was vouchsafed her grop- 
 ing mentality. She comprehended first, in a some- 
 what hazy manner, that Edith had never written the 
 letter, that a trap had been laid with Edith as the bait, 
 that something lay behind it all too profound for im- 
 mediate solution. 
 
 It wove in fantastic, elusive forms about the mas- 
 querade, the belief of all New York that she was
 
 THE ICE BLUE EYES 263 
 
 Princess Thirvinia. Yet why, even then this Clear, 
 vivid memories of the woman's eyes at the Horse Show 
 this woman's chilling eyes, the intensity of her gaze, 
 the hatred in her face, and the awe and creep she had 
 then inspired, blazed up with singular intensity, as if 
 to reveal much more; but faded again and left the 
 mystery black. 
 
 She was tempted for a moment to cry out protest- 
 ingly that she was not Princess Thirvinia, merely a 
 poor Cinderella, granted an hour of butterfly existence 
 from a life monotonously gray and dull before ; but she 
 banished the thought at once. She knew it would be 
 so utterly in vain and futile. The story would not be 
 credited ; it would appear the merest childish subter- 
 fuge of anyone similarly situated precisely what 
 the real Princess might attempt in hope of escape. 
 
 Subconsciously aware that the chain and the woman's 
 watchful presence argued unusual precautions against 
 her escape, therefore unusual importance, doubtless, 
 in her capture, and remembering also the Baron's re- 
 quest that she continue in her role, she was momentar- 
 ily more and more convinced that something political 
 lay behind the affair of which she was the victim. The 
 Baron had said she might perform a great service to 
 his country. 
 
 Her fright gave way to thinking, planning impossi- 
 ble things, wondering why she was kept alive at all, 
 speculating as to Baron von Hochhaus and how much 
 he might have known of dangers surrounding the 
 Princess. 
 
 Indignation succeeded a number of lesser emotions 
 in her being, and yet she was weak and could not long 
 retain anger adequate to the indignities here thrust
 
 264 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 upon her. What to do was the question, not what 
 might have been done. Was escape by any means pos- 
 sible, chained as she was and probably under the con- 
 stant watchfulness of this icy eyed woman, who sug- 
 gested some species of vampire yet unnamed? 
 
 She sank on the pillow, ill again, in a slight degree, 
 from the reflex action of the drug employed to blanket 
 her senses. She could think a little more clearly thus, 
 and realized the uselessness of questioning the woman, 
 who would certainly reveal nothing of the slightest im- 
 portance. 
 
 The day was fast graying into gloom. She could 
 see far out, through the dirty panes of the window, 
 across the dreary landscape of denuded trees and snow. 
 She had known it for open country at the first waking 
 glance. The wind was swaying the trees. Snow 
 wraiths drifted homelessly across the desolation. There 
 was not a house in sight. 
 
 She looked about the wretched room, on that partic- 
 ular side of the couch, without a motion of her head, 
 wondering just how far above the snow and earth was 
 the window. Her thoughts went straying off to Rob- 
 ley Stuyverant involuntarily. Someway, she felt that 
 if she could only let him know where she was, he would 
 come though death itself should bar the way. She 
 knew she would go to him in such a plight, and the 
 thought warmed her heart like a flame of sacred fire. 
 If she only knew where she was if she only knew 
 if she could only tell him tell him tell Her 
 secondary drowsiness overcame her, and she slept there 
 like a child. 
 
 It was less than an hour before she once more started 
 to her senses, this time wide awake promptly and blink-
 
 THE ICE BLUE EYES 265 
 
 ing at a smoky lamp on the rickety table near the wall. 
 The windows were heavily curtained. Not a ray of 
 light could have found its way to the outer darkness 
 of the land. 
 
 Two figures cast great shadows on the floor, one the 
 woman's, the other a man's. The latter bore some 
 steaming dishes in his hands and on his arm, with a 
 waiter's universal skill. It was he they called Pelevin, 
 an accomplished being with a mind, he always said, 
 above the roles for which the world had cast him. 
 
 At the slight sound made by Thurley in propping 
 herself on an arm the woman turned. " Get up ! " she 
 commanded. " I am hungry. We dine." 
 
 Thurley was staring at Pelevin, whose face, she was 
 sure, betokened better things than a questionable asso- 
 ciation with this woman. He did not turn, however, 
 till he had placed all the dishes on the table; then, as 
 he went, he cast a look on the captive girl that seemed, 
 she fancied, friendly, if not indeed compassionate 
 all while Zagorsky's back was turned. 
 
 "Will you drink tea or coffee?" asked the woman, 
 arranging the dishes on the table. " You see, I am 
 generous, a good provider." 
 
 " Coffee, if you please," said Thurley, who trusted 
 it might be as good as the bare suggestion promised. 
 She was painfully hungry. 
 
 She rose from the bed, discovering her chain to be 
 fully ten feet in length, even as the woman strode to 
 the door and bawled to Pelevin to bring two cups of 
 coffee. Then presently, with Zagorsky seated close at 
 her side, Thurley assuaged her appetite on mutton stew, 
 with bread and butter. The fare, though exceedingly 
 limited as to variety, was nevertheless acceptable, being
 
 266 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 well cooked and comfortingly hot. The coffee, in two 
 large heavy cups, was brought a few minutes later, and 
 once more Pelevin disappeared. It seemed to Thurley 
 utterly incongruous to sit here, calmly eating with such 
 a being, under such conditions ; but she was a healthy, 
 hungry young woman, and to starve would be the 
 greatest folly. 
 
 Zagorsky was not a communicative or loquacious per- 
 son. Thurley felt that queries, entreaties, or demands 
 would be alike wasted on the creature, and therefore, 
 both being greatly in need of bodily sustenance, there 
 was nothing said during the progress of the meal. The 
 same inherent shrinking from the adventuress was con- 
 stantly present in Thurley's subconscious thoughts and 
 movements; yet a sheer determination that she would 
 not needlessly grieve, or otherwise waste her strength, 
 possessed her absolutely and supplied her with courage, 
 hope, and a wisdom rare and helpful. 
 
 When at length she pushed her empty cup away there 
 was new resolve and a steady, renerving resentment in 
 her being. She took one look at Madam Zagorsky, al- 
 most as if with the thought in mind of pouncing upon 
 her, fighting it out, and then perhaps leaping from the 
 window; but the wild idea faded instantly, leaving her 
 sober sense a throne, and aware of the heavy odds 
 against her. 
 
 She rose from the table, and her angry glance, which 
 was also girlishly wistful, sped along the twisted links 
 of the chain that bound her to the bed. She almost 
 started at sight of a link supplied by strands of wire. 
 The chain had either been broken, or two short pieces 
 had once been spliced together, the wire being passed 
 at least four times between the iron links, then twisted
 
 THE ICE BLUE EYES 267 
 
 hard and nipped off close and bent down level with the 
 strands. 
 
 Thurley's breath came faster, merely with the 
 thought of things perhaps made possible, could she 
 once but tamper with the link. Then Zagorsky faced 
 about, and Thurley sank on the edge of the bed with 
 her eyes averted from the woman's. 
 
 Despite all the sleep she had taken that day, she 
 presently felt herself heavy again. She made an effort, 
 at first rather slight, then more determined, to cast the 
 feeling off. A few minutes later she was exerting the 
 utmost will power and mental goading of which she was 
 capable to divest her brain of a lethargy creeping 
 upon it. 
 
 The effort was in vain, her struggle impotent. She 
 felt herself dimmed as by some heavy cloud, expunging 
 very life. With her last protesting lucubrations she 
 realized that the drowsiness was wholly unnatural 
 and was helplessly certain the coffee had been drugged. 
 
 With one despairing fear of what the night might 
 bring upon her, a fear that fought, but had not the 
 force to battle down the narcotic, she felt herself 
 drooping head downward on the bed, and was once 
 more inert and unconscious.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 AN OFFER OF HELP 
 
 ZAGORSKY, being herself a heavy sleeper, once that con- 
 dition of inactivity was achieved, purposed taking no 
 chances with her captive. She had no mind or inclina- 
 tion for sitting up awake or otherwise assuming need- 
 less responsibilities with an important captive, while 
 drugs were cheap and certain. 
 
 At length made certain that Thurley was wrapped 
 in the folds and weavings of the baneful stuff employed, 
 she closed the door upon her, went actively down the 
 stairs, and strode unexpectedly in upon the three of her 
 following, smoking in the kitchen of the house, over the 
 dishes of their dinner. 
 
 Inasmuch as she nearly always approached them in 
 this stealthy manner, the three were not unduly sur- 
 prised. Pelevin quickly rose from his seat and offered 
 her a chair. She sat near the stove ; for the night was 
 cold and the house leaked air like a sieve. 
 
 " So," she said, eying the men before her with her 
 penetrative stare. " You are all convinced I know 
 nothing of my business, and are all of a mind to mur- 
 der the girl and get away?" 
 
 She had heard no more than a word on entering ; yel 
 had diagnosed the state of their minds unerringly. 
 
 " I was not yet certain," said the one called Max. 
 " I was willing the matter should be discussed, with you 
 to decide, or at least show cause for this dangerous de- 
 lay."
 
 AN OFFER OF HELP 
 
 " Ah ! " said Zagorsky. " You were willing that I 
 the brains and all of this enterprise should squeak 
 like a mouse at the conference of lions? " 
 
 The fellow Jan was in a sullen mood. He was not 
 to be immediately browbeaten into his customary sub- 
 mission. " We shall presently have the whole pack 
 down upon us," he said. " We are not in Europe. 
 They manage things differently here in America. 
 Have I not reason to know? We should be satisfied 
 to obliterate this much of the power and oppression of 
 Hertzegotha now take no chances of her escape 
 and work for the Grand Duke afterward." 
 
 " You mean murder and run with our business 
 half accomplished," corrected Zagorsky malevolently. 
 " It is your usual cowardly method. I say I shall get 
 them both, by midnight of to-morrow at the latest. 
 As for escape, chained logs do not vanish in smoke 
 through a keyhole and reembody themselves outside to 
 roll away." 
 
 " She is a bird in hand," insisted Jan, averting his 
 gaze from the ice blue eyes he dreaded. " If you find 
 the task too severe for delicate hands It is business 
 that must be done ! " 
 
 " Do you threaten ? " asked the woman quietly. 
 " Let one of the three of you dare appear above the 
 head of the stairs between this hour and eight in the 
 morning, or all the three if you have the courage be- 
 tween you ! " 
 
 "But eight o'clock!" said Pelevin. "This is 
 very late." 
 
 " I sleep late," answered Zagorsky. " Have I in- 
 convenienced myself for years to bring this capture 
 about, only to disturb myself for no good reason now,
 
 270 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 when at last I have earned my morning's repose? I 
 repeat it, eight o'clock. The girl may sleep till nine." 
 
 Jan continued sullen and wedded to his topic. " In- 
 stead of the Duke appearing at the broken mill, you 
 will have a posse at our heels. And even though it may 
 be different, what purpose does it serve to keep the 
 Princess here alive? " 
 
 " Several purposes, best known to myself," an- 
 swered the woman leader of the business. " Even you 
 should perceive there may be a final necessity of show- 
 ing this girl to the Duke, at the window of the mill, be- 
 fore he will enter the trap." 
 
 " But mark my word, he will not come alone," in- 
 sisted Jan. " One potentate in the grave is worth two 
 in a cordon of police. Think you Hochhaus is un- 
 wary? Think you Karl-Wilhelm goes about unpro- 
 tected, free to blunder to our trap ? " 
 
 Max took his pipe from his mouth. " He is still in 
 hiding from Wenck and the Baron," he supplied. " He 
 is little minded for more coercion, here in the land of 
 the free." 
 
 " I have only one question to ask," said Zagorsky 
 calmly. " Who engineered this capture of the Prin- 
 cess, who brought about its success, who have been the 
 failures heretofore?" She rose and stood facing the 
 table, her back to the stove. " Bah ! Of the three, 
 you, Jan, are the least endowed with brains in this as- 
 sociation. Yet I had not thought even you reduced to 
 common, hurried murder in your utter lack of finesse." 
 
 " I know my duty," growled the man. " We'll see 
 what we shall see." 
 
 "A threat?" she demanded as before. "If it 
 comes to that, at least fling it out like a man ! "
 
 AN OFFER OF HELP 271 
 
 " I make no threats," said Jan, sullenly puffing at his 
 pipe ; " only " 
 
 She waited; but he did not complete his sentence. 
 " I understand," she said more soothingly, herself a 
 little fearful of this blood desiring man. " When the 
 hour arrives, it shall be you, no other, that has the 
 deed, the honor, the glory, of the stroke." 
 
 He glanced up quickly. " It is a promise? All 
 agree ? " 
 
 " I am all and I agree," said Zagorsky in a way 
 of magnificence all her own. " And, that being set- 
 tled, an hour for consultation." 
 
 The council sat till midnight, resolving there by the 
 glowing stove the plans for assuring the coming of the 
 Duke to meet a waiting doom. There were no more 
 hints of mutiny ; but all agreed that instantly, upon the 
 possible appearance of deliverance sent for Thurley, 
 the knife in the hands of Jan should do its work, no 
 matter what the after consequences to any in the band. 
 
 Zagorsky retired a little after twelve. Thurley was 
 sleeping like the Princess of legend, bound by a magic 
 spell. In its corner the oil stove, rank with emanations, 
 glowed all night like a beacon set to lure trusting 
 ships on the reef. 
 
 At eight in the morning a thunderous and long con- 
 tinued pounding on the door roused Thurley from her 
 torpor while still her captor rasped a song of sleep. 
 It was Pelevin, ready to bring the breakfast, but de- 
 siring the dishes of the meal of the evening before. 
 The door was locked, a precaution Zagorsky had taken 
 on her own initiative, lest Jan be overzealous in the 
 night. 
 
 She was roused at last, reluctantly and heavily
 
 272 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 emerging from her hibernation, which Thurley duly 
 noted. 
 
 The day had officially begun. It was destined to be 
 a day of dullness, dread, and desolation, broken but 
 once; in the morning, when the breakfast things had 
 gone. 
 
 Zagorsky was summoned to the room below, and 
 Pelevin returned for the earthenware cups, over which 
 the woman had lingered. The door had been left a 
 trifle open, Zagorsky desiring to hear any sounds that 
 might be of moment above. 
 
 The man thus alone with Thurley abruptly placed 
 the utensils once more on the table. He turned to the 
 girl with a face transformed to one of contrition and 
 shame. 
 
 " Ah ! your Highness ! " he whispered in a tragic un- 
 dertone, suffused with intense emotion, " I can no 
 longer bear that you shall regard me also with the 
 hatred and dread, the suspicion and horror these others 
 may inspire. I have waited to tell you, declare my 
 loyalty, my friendship, my wish to assist you to es- 
 cape ! " And down on his knees the fellow sank, his 
 hands held imploringly before him. 
 
 Thurley was startled, more than surprised, by the 
 abruptness of his action. Something in his face the 
 previous evening had a little prepared her mind for 
 some such declaration. Yet she hardly knew what 
 were best to do in the moment that might be vouch- 
 safed them. 
 
 " Oh, if you would if you would really help me! " 
 she said, her own voice barely more than a whisper. 
 " But what can I possibly do ? " 
 
 " Your friends ! " he said eagerly. " Let them know !
 
 AN OFFER OF HELP 273 
 
 Your royal fiance ! In an hour I must go to the vil- 
 lage for meat. A letter, a note, to the Duke the 
 brave young Duke ! Let me take it if only a line ! " 
 
 " But I have no paper, no pencil My other 
 friends " she answered eagerly. " If I tell them 
 all " 
 
 " Ah ! to ruin everything ! " he interrupted implor- 
 ingly. " If so many come, are seen from here, your 
 life must pay the forfeit on the instant. This is pre- 
 determined. Let the Duke come alone, he only and I 
 can help ! Ah ! a part of a letter ! " He had snatched 
 an old letter from his pocket and torn away the second 
 sheet. " But a stub of pencil only ! " This he like- 
 wise produced, with grime, from a pocket of his vest. 
 " Write it write it quick ! There is not a moment 
 to lose ! And already I know where to find him ! " 
 The tears rolled swiftly from his eyes. " It is so little 
 I may do ; but your life shall be saved I shall not 
 have lived in vain I shall have not have suffered 
 shame, degradation, for nothing ! " He dashed away 
 the tears. "But write!" 
 
 Thurley was deeply affected by the fellow's outburst 
 of emotion. She felt new hope in the day. Quickly 
 kneeling by the table, she turned once more to the 
 man. 
 
 " Where am I? Where shall I tell him to come? " 
 
 " The village of North Winog, Long Island," 
 Pelevin whispered rapidly. " Tell him you are captive 
 in the old mill, one mile out, to the eastward, where he 
 shall come at nine o'clock to-night ; but come alone, on 
 peril of your life. Tell him you will go with no one 
 else and to bring no help nearer than the village." 
 
 Thurley started to write in feverish haste. She
 
 274 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 paused. " But to-night at nine I may be drugged 
 again and fast asleep." 
 
 " I am cook," he whispered. " I shall leave out the 
 drug. You shall then pretend to sleep and leave the 
 rest to me." 
 
 She wrote again; but stopped to inquire: "This 
 house is a mill ? " 
 
 " At the front, which you have not seen. Ah ! if we 
 waste the time ! " He had risen and now he tiptoed to 
 the door and listened there intently. " It is nearly 
 done? I must appear below." 
 
 " There there ! " said Thurley, signing the note, 
 and she placed it at once in his hand. 
 
 He read it hurriedly. It was written in German. 
 
 DEAR KARL-ROBLEY. I am captive in an old mill, one 
 mile out to the east from village of East Winog, Long 
 Island. You must come alone to save me, bringing no one 
 with you nearer than the village, and at nine to-night! It 
 is important that you come alone. You must remember 
 that, or it seems I am sentenced. Yours, 
 
 THURLEY. 
 
 "Karl-Robley? " he said inquiringly. "But his 
 name " 
 
 Thurley reddened. She had thought by this means 
 it might be possible to get the intelligence also to 
 Stuyverant, who, far more than all the Dukes in the 
 world, might move effectively. 
 
 " A nickname," she told the man without the slight- 
 est hesitation. " No one calls him so but myself." 
 
 ' The better then, that he will know it is from your- 
 self," agreed Pelevin, hurriedly tucking the note in his
 
 AN OFFER OF HELP 275 
 
 pocket. " The blessing of the God, if I shall be able 
 to help you my Princess ! " Again the tears welled 
 swiftly to his eyes, and, kneeling, he kissed the hem of 
 her skirt, then hastened to his dishes, made a noisy 
 clatter at the table, and sprang through the door to 
 stumble awkwardly down the stairs which Madam Za- 
 gorsky was ascending.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 THE BAEON AND A KNIGHT 
 
 THAT morning brought little of comfort or hope to 
 Alice Van Kirk, and nothing of relief to Robley Stuy- 
 verant. No news had arrived; the mystery of Thur- 
 ley's disappearance and whereabouts remained abso- 
 lutely unbroken. 
 
 Stuyverant felt doubly despairing. He had learned 
 sufficient from the conference with the Baron to realize 
 that Princess Thurley was tremendously essential to the 
 integrity and future of Hertzegotha, and was thor- 
 oughly convinced that, should she be discovered and re- 
 turned, after this, she must soon complete her alliance 
 with the youthful Duke and completely withdraw from 
 his own existence. 
 
 Nevertheless, his fanatical desire to serve her, to be, 
 if possible, the one particular knight to reach her side 
 and deliver her out of whatsoever dangers might im- 
 pend, increased upon him hourly. If the Fates de- 
 creed that his love must be forever hopeless, it would 
 not be thereby lessened. Come what might, that day 
 in the park had knitted a bond between them that noth- 
 ing could ever wholly sever. 
 
 A strange conviction that Thurley's doom hung 
 close and loose above her head had haunted his thoughts 
 since the very hour when he learned of the way she had 
 gone. He had fretted with wild and increasing impa- 
 tience because of this conviction. He was nearly be- 
 
 976
 
 THE BARON! AND A KNIGHT 277 
 
 side himself, to be baffled, impotently ignorant of what 
 he ought to do. This enforced inactivity and stupid 
 waiting, while a night went by, seemed enough to drive 
 him crazy. Of what avail was his eager love when he 
 made not the slightest move? 
 
 Stifling an hourly repeated impulse to seek the aid 
 of the city's police, he could scarcely wait, this Sunday 
 morning, for the time appointed to meet the Baron at 
 his rooms. When he came there at last the Baron was 
 no wiser concerning Thurley than at Alice's the pre- 
 vious night. Two of his men were still to report; he 
 could only advise further patience. Wenck was still 
 away. 
 
 At eleven o'clock his two men came, with vital news, 
 and were interviewed in private. They had found 
 Princess Thirvinia. 
 
 That royally erratic young person was lying dan- 
 gerously ill, unknown and unsuspected, at the home of 
 some loyal, if humble subjects of Hertzegotha, living 
 in unromantic Weehawken. She was unaware of the 
 presence either of Wenck, the Baron, or the Duke in 
 New York, and was too reduced to care. 
 
 Vastly disturbed by this intelligence, and yet in a 
 measure relieved, Hochhaus was still tremendously con- 
 cerned with the fate of Thurley Ruxton. The Princess 
 might yet succumb and leave his Kingdom bereft, 
 while the young Duke, ignorant of Thurley 's disap- 
 pearance, was still persistent in his declarations that 
 he loved no one else in the world. 
 
 There was nothing to communicate to Stuyverant. 
 Indeed, the Baron's perturbation grew with the very 
 fact his men had brought him no report concerning the 
 abducted girl. He had much to do to maintain the
 
 278 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 secrecy hedging the Princess about, to provide her the 
 finest medical attendance, to arouse the Duke to his 
 highest sense of duty, and, if possible, aid with all his 
 power in saving the girl he knew to be in imminent dan- 
 ger of her life, if not already slain. 
 
 He could only tell Stuyverant to wait. Later he 
 went to Weehawken, skillfully disguised, since he felt 
 convinced that his movements were closely observed by 
 Zagorsky's agents, doubtless on his trail. 
 
 At three o'clock a message from out in Long Island 
 arrived for the young Duke Karl. It was quietly in- 
 tercepted by the Baron's agents and brought to his 
 quarters at once, Karl-Wilhelm none the wiser. 
 
 Half an hour later the Baron returned, and the mes- 
 sage was placed in his hands. Stuyverant, having 
 been twice to Alice's, was once more waiting and 
 growing momentarily more desperate. Wenck had not 
 only not appeared, but had not sent the slightest word. 
 
 No sooner had Hochhaus glanced the message over 
 than he strode to Stuyverant's room. He was thor- 
 oughly aroused; but incisively keen of wit. He had 
 leaped at the truth of things as a tiger leaps on its 
 prey. 
 
 " Stuyverant, here it is at last ! " he said as Robley 
 sprang to his feet, prepared to blurt out his impatience 
 with methods so lacking in action. " I rather thought 
 that something in this nature might appear; but I 
 didn't expect Man, what do you think of this?" 
 He held up a note to read. 
 
 "What is it? Something from Miss Th " 
 
 " It's a bit of correspondence addressed to Grand 
 Duke Karl and intercepted by my orders," interrupted 
 the Baron. " Listen."
 
 THE BARON AND A KNIGHT 279 
 
 "EXCELLENCY I have found Miss Thurley, and send 
 you immediate word that you may hasten to her rescue ; for 
 you alone will she trust, so great is her present appre- 
 hension for her life, and so great is the warrant for her 
 fears. She is a captive in the hands of political enemies 
 of Hertzegotha, at a small village called North Winog, on 
 Long Island, one hundred miles out, nearly, and is at an 
 old mill, one mile to the eastward of the village, where she 
 informs me one of the band has revealed a secret loyalty 
 and desire to render her assistance. Through him only 
 will her rescue be possible. 
 
 " You must come alone to-night at nine o'clock, bring- 
 ing no assisting friends nearer than the village proper, lest 
 you excite suspicion and thereby sacrifice her life on the 
 instant. Be under the window at the stroke of nine 
 the window at the rear of the mill, and do not, for the love 
 of heaven, attempt her rescue by force of numbers, or come 
 otherwise than alone ! The one man loyal to her High- 
 ness is expected to go out to-night and return at nine; 
 hence one man approaching will arouse no suspicion. I 
 shall await your advent myself in the village. For God 
 and Hertzegotha, 
 
 OTTO WENCK. 
 " POSTSCRIPT. I inclose confirmatory note from " 
 
 Stuyverant, white with excitement, and crouching, as 
 if for a spring of action, snatched the paper from the 
 Baron's fingers. 
 
 " Pardon," he said ; " but where is it where 
 village of North " 
 
 " My dear young friend," admonished the Baron 
 quietly, " wait ! Don't you see " 
 
 " Wait ! " said Stuyverant wildly. " I've done noth- 
 ing but wait all day! I want to get started! Don't 
 you understand? "
 
 280 THUBXEY RUXTON 
 
 " I do," said the Baron, " perfectly. There is more. 
 You have not yet heard it all. This also was inclosed." 
 He held up Thurley's note and read it, puzzled at once 
 by its presence in the letter and the method of the ad- 
 dress. "Dear Karl-Robley." 
 
 "What?" cried Stuyverant, more excited than be- 
 fore. " It's half addressed to me ! Perhaps she ex- 
 pected thought that I Baron, I'll take a force 
 of men I mean that we I shall go in my car to 
 fetch her back ! There may be no railway in miles ! 
 Can your men be ready at once? ' 
 
 " Mr. Stuyverant, sit down ! " commanded the Baron 
 sternly. " Can't you see this is merely a trap ? " 
 
 Stuyverant halted in the act of throwing on his coat, 
 and the sable trailed on the floor. " A trap ! It's 
 Thurley's appeal and it's half addressed to me ! I 
 don't understand. There's nothing to do but to get 
 there as soon as the Lord will let me ! Why should you 
 call it a trap ? " 
 
 " This letter was sent to the Duke. I told you that." 
 
 " It was ; but right there Robley his name 
 isn't Rob " 
 
 " And it's signed here Otto Wenck." 
 
 " Your man, I know ; but nevertheless " 
 
 " That's the lie of it, man ! " the Baron interrupted. 
 "Wenck, it is true is over there somewhere, and has 
 made no report; but he's under another name and on 
 no account would send me a line or a line to the 
 Duke with his own name actually attached ! " 
 
 " You mean " 
 
 " I mean that was my orders absolute orders. 
 Furthermore, he would never, in a case like this, send 
 a line to anyone save myself, while it is perfectly pre-
 
 THE BARON AND A KNIGHT 281 
 
 posterous for him to urge the Duke into such a noose 
 as this ! A trap a clumsy trap and this sort of 
 bait I've expected ! " 
 
 Stuyverant paled. " But, good heavens, Baron, 
 how could This note from Miss Thurley not a 
 forgery, you think? " 
 
 " I am not prepared to say. It may be genuine ; it 
 may be all a lie. This Wenck note is a forgery 
 and clever as the fiends. It sums up all a trap, my 
 son, to compass a double murder." 
 
 Stuyverant went white about the mouth. " Mur- 
 der!" 
 
 " Sit down," urged the Baron more quietly. " This 
 is a matter of life and death to the beautiful woman I 
 feel you would serve to the uttermost limits of your 
 strength." 
 
 " My life ! My life ! I mean it, sir ! " 
 
 " Then, in the name of the Heaven you implored, be 
 calm a little and assist me as far as you may." 
 
 " You think she's alive ? She may be there that 
 village, North Winog? " 
 
 " It is the barest hope in the world. It is far more 
 likely she is far away in another direction, God 
 alone knows where, and yet, it is all we have at pres- 
 ent, and you might at least investigate; though the 
 dangers, I warn you, are great." 
 
 The younger man was confident. " I'll simply take 
 a dozen men picked fighters gun fighters, at that 
 and clean up " 
 
 " So I feared ! " It was dryly remarked, and the 
 Baron screwed up his mouth. " If she is there at all, 
 and alive, your course would ring her knell the instant 
 your men appeared. It is no idle threat, that part of
 
 282 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 the letter that warns the Duke he must be certain to 
 come alone, his friends no closer than the village. Of 
 what avail are friends a mile away ? " 
 
 " Then I'll go alone, though all the demons out of 
 Hades " 
 
 " And be quietly captured there beneath the window. 
 When they find you are not the Duke, what then? 
 And you wouldn't expect, with a letter as false as this, 
 that Miss Thurley, as you call her, would be standing 
 at the window waiting to leap into your arms ? " 
 
 Stuyverant saw the situation, yet clung to a species 
 of hope. " Good heavens, man ! do you expect me to 
 do nothing? If she's there at all, and in momentary 
 danger of her life, I've got to take a chance that's 
 all!" 
 
 " And give yourself none," commented the Baron 
 dryly. " If you mean to help in this affair, go over, 
 if you please, to North Winog, with your car and your 
 man, and ascertain, if possible, whether or not any 
 strangers have recently come to that neighborhood in 
 peculiar circumstances and are occupying any old 
 mill." 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 " Then report to me, or at most adopt some sane 
 expedient for the safe delivery of the captive, should 
 you find her actually imprisoned and alive there- 
 abouts." 
 
 "But you?" demanded Stuyverant. "In the 
 meantime you are certainly as deeply interested 
 perhaps more deeply interested. Where will you be 
 with your men? What will they all be doing? " 
 
 " Scouring the darkest, farthest corners of all New 
 York," said the Baron laconically, " endeavoring to re-
 
 THE BARON AND A KNIGHT 283 
 
 trieve any time we may lose by sending you off to this 
 village." 
 
 " Then you think she isn't there? " 
 
 The Baron smiled. " It would be almost too good 
 to be true." 
 
 " I shall go and see," said Stuyverant. " God grant 
 I may find her safe ! " He flung on his coat, which had 
 fallen to a chair. 
 
 " Amen to that ! " answered the Baron, his fine old 
 mouth slightly twitching, and his eyes suspiciously 
 moist. Then he placed his hands on Robley's shoul- 
 ders. " Don't take the slightest unnecessary risk, my 
 boy," he added. " Serve her as far as you like, 
 with your life, if you must, but be certain first it is 
 a service. My affection for you is great. To sacri- 
 fice another life youth Take no risks, no risks 
 that can do no good in the end." 
 
 Stuyverant was greatly affected. His fine young 
 face took on an expression approximating sublimity. 
 
 " I would go through anything to serve her," he 
 stated simply. " And because she has written ' Robley ' 
 here, I am certain she lives, and sent this note and ex- 
 pects well, someone, at nine o'clock to-night." 
 
 The Baron could say no more. He wrung the young 
 man's hand with tremulous intensity and watched him 
 go out at the door. Then he sank on a chair, limp and 
 wretched, staring at the carpet. He knew what the 
 dangers were into which this youth would plunge, the 
 dangers into which, he confessed, he had feared Thurley 
 Ruxton would fall. 
 
 " God help us all ! " he murmured. " I must serve 
 Hertzegotha first ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 
 
 THE day with Thurley was one long monotony of fear, 
 disgust, and helplessness. The windows had been 
 finally uncurtained, late in the morning; but the day 
 was gray and dreary, while the atmosphere within was 
 murky and foul with odors from below, and the reek of 
 the stove that kept the room slightly warmer than 
 freezing. 
 
 Zagorsky remained at her captive's side almost con- 
 stantly. She seldom spoke, and Thurley would never 
 have addressed her voluntarily, since questions and 
 pleading would have been of no avail, and conversa- 
 tion was impossible. As often as she encountered the 
 ice blue stare of the woman's eyes, she shuddered anew 
 with repugnance and the certainty of a gross, malevo- 
 lent mind behind their baleful glistening. 
 
 She had found herself wrapped in an exceptionally 
 long, gray cloak, patched and dirty, but at least of 
 wool, and therefore slightly comforting, in this leaky 
 old hovel, long before abandoned as a human habita- 
 tion. She spent her time lying or sitting on the bed, 
 or walking the few feet rendered possible by the meager 
 length of chain. 
 
 She did not sleep again. From time to time she 
 
 heard a murmur of voices, where the men below were 
 
 repeatedly protesting against the delays of Madam 
 
 Zagorsky. Now and again the woman descended on 
 
 284
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 285 
 
 the trio, to soothe or to domineer, as occasion might de- 
 mand. Never for more than five minutes at a time did 
 she thus leave Thurley to herself and the girl was 
 aware of the utter futility of attempted escape in such 
 interim, or in the glare of day. 
 
 Twice she had dared snatch up her chain and try 
 with her fingers to loosen the wires, where the twisted 
 ends were nipped and bent over on the link. She had 
 no intention of doing more than barely prepare the 
 stubborn splice for possible tampering later on ; but 
 even this seemed quite impractical to fingers fashioned 
 delicately and unprovided with a tool. 
 
 On the last occasion, nevertheless, she found an edge 
 on the iron bed where the twist of wire, being once en- 
 gaged, was readily bent backward on the link. It did 
 not break, being tough and malleable, and she barely 
 had time to bend it once more to its former position 
 when Zagorsky again returned. 
 
 There were no more opportunities to labor with the 
 wire, and at most it was merely possible for Thurley to 
 sit there planning how, if her chance should come, she 
 could bend and bend that metal prong till its point 
 should finally snap. 
 
 She planned all day at a thousand things impossi- 
 ble and even extravagant. No thought had entered 
 her mind again of attempting a struggle with the 
 woman. She knew her strength could avail her nothing 
 in a combat so entirely unequal. And the noise would 
 disturb the men. 
 
 Her hope attached itself with childlike confidence to 
 the man Pelevin, hour after hour. Her only fear con- 
 cerning him was that of his inability, surrounded as he 
 was by other men, to render the necessary help at the
 
 286 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 vital moment. She had doubts again of the arrival of 
 the note addressed to the Duke and Robley. It seemed 
 to her she was very far from all the world of Gotham. 
 The note might be lost, intercepted. The day being 
 Sunday, it might easily fail of delivery. If no one 
 should come that night at nine 
 
 A fever of anxiety, hope succeeding doubt, eager 
 planning for herself, and increasing dread and illness 
 in this fetid room, was flaming her cheeks and eyes. 
 The day was so frightfully long, the unknown fate im- 
 pending, and the mystery as to why she had been thus 
 entrapped, were so baffling and frightening as the hours 
 wore slowly on ! 
 
 She could not have known that Pelevin, clever actor 
 that he was, had tricked and deceived her with shame- 
 less duplicity, playing on her feelings and credulity to 
 procure her note to the Duke; yet she finally doubted 
 even him. It was merely the accumulated despair to 
 which she was the victim, making its pessimistic in- 
 roads to her courage. 
 
 She doubted everything at times, and was hopelessly 
 haunted by instinctive alarms, as if the violence hover- 
 ing in the air and lurid with murderous desire, was 
 someway communicated to her more receptive self, 
 which could not interpret their meaning. 
 
 Yet back to her hope in Pelevin she fled, as if aware 
 it was all she had, no matter how tenuous its substance. 
 He had promised not to drug her coffee. If he should 
 lie ! She might be wiser to refuse the draft and take 
 no chances ! But the action, on the other hand, might 
 readily excite the woman's suspicions, even against Pel- 
 evin. 
 
 Her fever rose with the waning of day, and when, at
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 287 
 
 five, the sun went down in a red streaked sky, suggest- 
 ing blood and fire that someway were not warm, she felt 
 the landscape's desolation creeping coldly to her heart. 
 She had risen from the bed so many times, in the spirit 
 of restlessness increasing steadily, that she feared the 
 woman must note her condition and pounce upon its 
 actuating cause. With all the power of her mind's 
 volition she remained at peace, attempting to convey an 
 impression of sleepiness again, and dullness for lack 
 of air. 
 
 "May we have the window opened for a moment? " 
 she finally asked. " The air will be better for freshen- 
 ing." 
 
 " It suits me well enough as it is," said Zagorsky. 
 " Once I heard of a man on the gallows who was given 
 a glass of beer, from which he blew the froth. Some- 
 one questioned why he blew it away. He said it was 
 not healthy and then he was hanged." She laughed 
 uproariously, shaking with mirth at the grimness of 
 her joke. 
 
 A sickening conviction of doom settled at Thurley's 
 heart. Ominous night and ominous threat seemed 
 brooding together in the shadows that fell upon the 
 snow bound world and house. There was nothing to 
 do but wait and wait for God alone knew what. 
 
 Evidence of more uneasiness increased below the 
 stairs. Something seemed amiss. Zagorsky was up 
 and down repeatedly between the hours of five and six. 
 There appeared to be no preparations for dinner or 
 even a thought of eating. 
 
 It was all concerned with Pelevin, not yet returned 
 from sending Thurley's note, with nis own, to the 
 young Grand Duke Karl-Wilhelm. It was half-past
 
 288 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 seven when he came at last, and the news he brought 
 was satisfactory. 
 
 Dinner was served to Thurley and the woman a little 
 after eight. It was precisely the sort of meal supplied 
 the previous evening; in fact, part of the stew still re- 
 maining unconsumed. Coffee was provided as before, 
 the man Pelevin snatching at a momentary opportunity 
 to nod at Thurley reassuringly while the cups were be- 
 ing placed on the table. 
 
 The man had no more than retreated through the 
 door than Zagorsky was on her feet. 
 
 " Pelevin ! " she called and, following actively, half 
 closed the door behind her as she gave him some manner 
 of instructions, delivered in Russian and barely above 
 a whisper. 
 
 Instantly, for no absolute reason she might at the 
 time have explained, Thurley conceived an extraordi- 
 nary plan to exchange her cup for the woman's ! 
 She did so before she could halt the action or reflect as 
 to why it was done. Her heart, however, swung like 
 a wind-swayed bell in its tower. Her hand shook as if 
 with ague. She knew it was not with some sudden 
 distrust of Pelevin she had acted ; she had merely obeyed 
 some blind intuition and prompting to be doubly safe, 
 should treachery lurk in the drink. 
 
 Zagorsky returned almost immediately. The trifling 
 sound that Thurley had made, transferring the heavy 
 earthenware receptacles, had alarmed her frightfully. 
 She was certain the movement had been heard and the 
 ruse would be detected. 
 
 Partly to hide her confusion, partly to complete her 
 action and force her own cup upon Zagorsky, she 
 drank the portion now allotted to herself without even
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 289 
 
 waiting for sugar. She was drinking, indeed, when the 
 woman came and resumed her seat at the table. Za- 
 gorsky glanced at her only once, a grim expression of 
 satisfaction betrayed for a second in her eyes. She 
 had feared Thurley might refuse the coffee altogether. 
 
 In the wildest flutter of excitement and fear, Thurley 
 watched for the woman to drink. Her heart continued 
 its tumult, which she was certain Zagorsky must hear. 
 She rose from her seat and proceeded to the bed, watch- 
 ing from the corner of her eyes. Below the men left 
 silently, to proceed to an old abandoned grist mill a 
 mile to the east of North Winog. 
 
 Zagorsky drank, draining the cup to the dregs. 
 
 " Horrible water, unfit for any cooking ! " she said, as 
 the drug taste left some impalpable tang on her palate, 
 and she rose and went over to the stove, renewing the 
 oil in its tank. 
 
 Then she stood above its heavy gush of heat, while 
 Thurley, watching with blazing eyes, presently remem- 
 bered that she must seem to droop and sink into sleep 
 as before. 
 
 She began the symptoms against which the previous 
 evening she had struggled helplessly. Zagorsky, at- 
 tributing her sense of comfort to the warmth of the 
 stove and dinner, crossed to the door, bolted it fast, 
 and returned to the ruby glare so impotent to dissipate 
 the cold. 
 
 She was watching her captive narrowly, a thing that 
 Thurley felt. Rising, Thurley shook herself, rubbed 
 at her eyes, and briskly chafed her hands. She stag- 
 gered a little where she stood, winking her eyes in the 
 heavy manner compelled by the drug before. Back to 
 the bed she sank, maintaining all her show of drowsiness,
 
 290 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and at length was prostrate on the pillow, her whole 
 tingling being startlingly awake and trembling with 
 suppressed excitement. 
 
 The drug worked slowly on Zagorsky. Sleep always 
 came to her reluctantly and remained overlong, the 
 morning hours invariably increasing her torpor. Nev- 
 ertheless, her feeling of placid contentment now rose 
 and engulfed her lurid brain. She sat in a chair be- 
 side the stove, somewhat exulting in the thought of a 
 good night's rest ahead. 
 
 She nodded there, her sense of peace possessing all 
 her body. Dimly she thought of nine o'clock and of 
 work to be done by Jan and the others, when the trap 
 should close its jaws. What need to bother herself? 
 When that was done, the rest could follow quickly. 
 And then, if a flight by darkness seemed advisable, a 
 bit of sleep to start on would be well. 
 
 She rose, by making an effort, and moved across to 
 her bed. An hour, at the most, she might nap serenely, 
 and then and then She dropped herself down, 
 or, rather, drooped, possessed of a sudden with a wild 
 suspicion that something might be wrong. A flash of 
 vivid, glaring light was seared across a portion of her 
 brain. Like a lightning stroke that fails to reach the 
 earth, the zigzag halted in the dullness, shutting out 
 her intellect and faded on her night. 
 
 She tried to rise, to cry to the men who were gone, 
 as she dully remembered. She could neither lift the 
 leaden mass of her shoulders and weighted skull, nor ut- 
 ter forth more than a gurgle. The sound she made 
 was terrible to Thurley, lying there quivering with life. 
 It was such an animal, savage sound, as of some wild 
 beast that struggled with suffocating death.
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 291 
 
 Expecting almost that the creature would come, 
 staggering possibly, but horribly vital and stubbornly 
 active in her sinister intent, Thurley dared not move 
 and dared not remain, and held her breath in fearful 
 alarm, as she listened to hear the lightest tread. 
 
 It did not come. Zagorsky was down, her brain like 
 a blackened frame, where fireworks, having expended 
 their flare, die suddenly, with here and there a streak 
 or a star of unattached and meaningless red, glowing 
 vividly a moment on the velvet gloom that its previous 
 brilliance has intensified. She was still awake, in a 
 manner, sinking as one who drowns but is not yet wholly 
 unconscious. Then oblivion claimed her for its own. 
 
 It was not until nearly half an hour later, when the 
 woman was breathing with the stentorious gasps and 
 irregular percussions of a gasolene engine, that Thur- 
 ley dared to move. She rose then cautiously, glancing 
 at once toward the inert mass the woman had become. 
 The house was still; the silence, save for Zagorsky's 
 breathing, was intense. 
 
 Thurley went to the lamp and turned it low, then 
 crept to the window and tried to peer through the snow- 
 lighted darkness of the night. There was nothing to 
 be seen. She had no means of determining the time; 
 but felt it must be fully nine o'clock, when perhaps de- 
 liverance should come. 
 
 Once more, at that, the clear bright light of her rea- 
 son was cast illumingly upon the facts. Pelevin was a 
 proved liar. The coffee he had promised should be 
 harmless had been obviously drugged. Undoubtedly 
 all his sympathy and loyalty had been a sham. 
 
 New forms of suspicion and dread rose before her 
 vision, as she thought of the uses to which her note to
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Robley might be put. She was terrified anew by the 
 murky conception of some hideous network of du- 
 plicity and crime, with its meshes about her, vouchsafed 
 to her vividly working mind. 
 
 She must save herself, she realized, or the blackest of 
 fates would doubtless be her portion. Alone with the 
 silence and the sodden woman, laboring in her sleep, 
 she stood undecided, overwhelmed for a moment with a 
 half-clear glimpse into things appallingly obscure. 
 Doubts as to where she really was assailed her, to- 
 gether with consuming fear of the creatures heard at 
 times below. 
 
 But to leave this house without the slightest un- 
 necessary delay was the first demand of action. Quietly, 
 furtively, she glided toward the bed, catching up the 
 iron chain that bound her like a slave. Her hand ran 
 past the wire link, in her trembling anxiety for haste. 
 Then she found it and, moving it to the metal edge 
 employed in the afternoon, bent the twisted strands 
 upon it and began to force them down and up by the 
 feeble glow of the lamp. 
 
 It seemed as if they would never snap, so tough was 
 their substance, so soft her hands, and so great was 
 her fear of creating a noise that would rouse Zagorsky 
 from her sleep. In feverish desperation she strained 
 at the wire, and was torn through the skin of her fin- 
 ger. Her hand was presently reddened from the 
 wound; but she worked more hotly than before. The 
 wire gave way! 
 
 Excitedly assailing the bright tipped strand, she 
 pushed it and drove it back through the link that it 
 coupled to a mate, finding it harsh and resisting to her 
 efforts. Her hands were stabbed and cut anew; but
 
 THE ONE WEAK LINK 293 
 
 the loosened ends were forced to yield, till presently 
 the chain was parted and an end fell down and struck 
 the floor sharply. 
 
 Thurley could have moaned. Zagorsky started in 
 her slumber, some of her stubborn instincts of suspi- 
 cion and watchfulness responding automatically to the 
 noise the chain had made.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 A DESPERATE FLIGHT 
 
 SCARCELY daring to breathe, facing the door with di- 
 lated eyes, and expecting an almost immediate demand 
 for admission to the room by some of the men, Thur- 
 ley stood holding one end of the chain like a goddess 
 released from bondage. She was almost prepared for 
 a fight for her life, had the moment demanded a fierce 
 and desperate stand. 
 
 But nothing happened. Her color, having fled, crept 
 back once more, as her fever and hope burned anew. 
 She was free in part; she must take advantage of her 
 moment. 
 
 The window was her only concern. To attempt es- 
 cape by the stairs and door was a thought far too 
 frightening for a moment's entertainment. She was 
 certain that some, if not all of the men, were below in 
 their usual quarters. 
 
 The room afforded nothing in the nature of a rope. 
 She knew from her former examination that the window 
 was far too high from the frozen ground and snow for 
 a leap, or even a drop. She had heard of captives 
 tearing the sheets of a bed to form an escaping strand. 
 
 Wrapping half of the chain about her waist and se- 
 curing the end with the wire, she tumbled the bed 
 clothes over wildly, to find there were no sheets. She 
 remembered the fact, for a moment forgotten in excite- 
 
 294
 
 A DESPERATE FLIGHT 295 
 
 ment. But two of the blankets were old. She dragged 
 them out and attempted to part them with her hands. 
 The hems at the ends resisted stubbornly. She bit at 
 and tore them with her teeth. Once they were severed, 
 she made headway faster, using jaws and hands to- 
 gether. The blankets were torn into three strips each ; 
 then she knotted their ends together. 
 
 Zagorsky stirred and partially rose, goaded by some 
 latent force that frequently possessed her in her sleep, 
 rousing her even to walking. " Pelevin ! " she said, 
 apparently staring at Thurley. 
 
 In sickening fright the girl let fall her strips of cloth, 
 as the woman sank back in her bed. 
 
 Cold moisture broke on Thurley's brow. Her heart 
 throbbed like an engine in her breast. It seemed as if 
 the horrid inefficiency of a nightmare numbed and par- 
 alyzed her actions. Yet she soon resumed her task. 
 Fear had electrified her ingenuity, as courage had 
 steeled her nerves. 
 
 She tied her " rope " to the table leg that was near- 
 est the window, at last, and slightly raised the sash, to 
 drop the end. The window came down again imme- 
 diately, its loose old skeleton rattling in the frame. 
 Once more its noise awoke the peal of alarms in Thur- 
 ley's bosom. A gush of the wintry air, sweeping in, 
 had struck like a zone of chill across her heated body. 
 
 She glanced about, aware she should need protection 
 from the night and its wind and snow. The gray old 
 cloak was on the bed. She caught it up and put it on, 
 when a crack and a thump on the stairs below made 
 her gasp and start with dread. 
 
 She stood there trembling, suppressing her breath, 
 and pressing both hands above her heart as if to stifle
 
 296 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 its clamor. Again all was still. She thought of the 
 lamp, and blew it out as a measure of precaution. 
 Groping her way to the window again, she thrust aside 
 the curtains, raised the sash, and put out her foot to 
 crawl out backward, her one hand closed in frantic grip 
 upon her strand of wool. 
 
 A horrible voice abruptly broke the silence Za- 
 gorsky talking in her unsurrendered restlessness of 
 spirit. 
 
 " You, Jan, shall strike the blow ! " A fearful gur- 
 gle spluttered in her throat. She rose from the bed, 
 as Thurley could hear, and floundered about the room. 
 
 Unable to endure the frightening thoughts that sud- 
 denly swooped upon her, Thurley supported the sash 
 on her shoulder, dropped backward from the sill, and 
 was suddenly out in the clean-smelling cold, swaying 
 twenty feet up from the ground. 
 
 The window had closed behind her, falling with its 
 rattle to the cushion of wool where the blanket lay 
 across the frame. Down, down slipped Thurley, nearly 
 thrust from her hold when a knot in the strand was en- 
 countered. Her hands were all but scorched by the 
 " rope " as the last few feet slid through her tender 
 palms, then she landed on and fell to the earth. 
 
 Up in an instant, unhurt and remarkably revived in 
 strength and nerve by the tonic of the air, she paused 
 for a moment to glance about and listen, before she 
 moved. 
 
 The entire side of the building was dark. Not a 
 gleam of light was revealed from a single window. 
 There was not a sound in all the world, it seemed, nor 
 a sign of other houses. A few stars gleamed in wells 
 of vast profundity, between huge masses of cloud. The
 
 A DESPERATE FLIGHT 297 
 
 great brazen dipper blazed heatlessly, as it swung 
 about the Polar star, immovably studded in the north. 
 
 It seemed to Thurley like a guidance divine as she 
 recognized this mighty constellation. It told her 
 the way to go. The village of North Winog, she 
 thought, must be barely a mile to the west. She did 
 not know the abandoned mill was not this structure 
 she was quitting, but was miles away in the opposite 
 direction. Raising the cloak which would have dragged 
 and caught under her feet, she faced the wind that had 
 blown all day across the wintry continent, and was 
 presently plunging through dry drifts of snow and 
 over barren earth, too hard to receive her tracks. The 
 wind sent scud where the drifts were piled, and this 
 filled in the imprints of her shoes, and so concealed her 
 trail. 
 
 She glanced behind, as she hastened on ; but neither 
 a shout nor a ray of light did the somber old hovel sur- 
 render. 
 
 Nevertheless, she felt pursued, a haunting sense of 
 her insecurity peopling every shadow with a sinister 
 form, about to leap out and retake her. She pres- 
 entlv ran, as increasing distance from the house made 
 the echo of footsteps far too faint to travel back and 
 betray the fact that she was gone. 
 
 She came to a fence and clambered through, tearing 
 the cloak, which she held as close as possible about her 
 chest, where the wind sought the thinness of her gar- 
 ments. For the very first time since the moment of 
 entering Edith's room, she missed her furs, her muff 
 and scarf, which Zagorsky must have taken. 
 
 They did not matter. Nothing mattered now but 
 escape, to achieve the village and beg for protection
 
 298 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and shelter from the first warm home she should find. 
 Running and walking, feverishly pushing forward, she 
 took no heed of distance or the roughness of the field 
 where she was traveling. She felt a glow of warmth 
 and life responding to her rapid locomotion. And at 
 last she came upon a road. 
 
 It led apparently westward; doubtless, she thought, 
 to the village she was seeking. Perhaps North Winog 
 was now no more than half a mile away and still 
 no sign of pursuers in the rear. 
 
 It was a strange still world of gray and black, with 
 skeleton trees against the restless sky, and huge abysses 
 of shadow in the far-off woods, and lakes of dull snow 
 in the meadows. It was frozen to lifelessness, stilled to 
 the silence of death. 
 
 Thurley went on. It seemed endless, this road, and 
 its course was altered, at a curve here and there, till 
 directions were all confused. Dark clouds had blotted 
 out the stars, and from time to time a flurry of snow 
 was driven fiercely earthward on the wind. 
 
 Thurley was certain she had come a mile at the end 
 of half an hour of ceaseless hurry. She had gone 
 more nearly two and by then was six from the near- 
 est town and leaving it farther behind. She had noth- 
 ing by way of plan, save to go and go till she came to 
 North Winog. She had slowed to a steady, active 
 gait! but doubts were beginning in her mind. 
 
 An hour out, she halted, glancing about her in be- 
 wilderment, wondering whither she had come. Long 
 before this, -as she felt convinced, the village should 
 have been encountered. A realizing sense that she must 
 have chosen the wrong direction came discouragingly 
 upon her.
 
 A DESPERATE FLIGHT 299 
 
 She dared not return and so approach the house from 
 which she had escaped ; she felt a little weariness and a 
 dread of being lost. The chill of the breeze would not 
 permit long halting in the road. She must go, and 
 keep on going, she knew but where? 
 
 " I shall come to something finally," she told her- 
 self in bravery; and onward she trudged as before. 
 
 At midnight she was all but exhausted. The chain 
 about her waist was cold and heavy. A new despair 
 was at her heart. To go on all night was hardly pos- 
 sible ; to sink by the road, in such a bitter atmosphere, 
 would mean to perish long before dawn. She felt 
 the road must terminate at last at a farm, if nothing 
 more. Anything now as a shelter from the wind would 
 be as a haven of rest. The snow was deeper in the 
 road, and her feet were heavy with its weight and con- 
 stant retarding. 
 
 She went on and on it seemed to her a time that 
 was never to end. It was nearly one o'clock in the 
 morning, with the wind assuming a colder, brisker 
 search of all the land, when out of the darkness loomed 
 the low, squat form of a shed or outbuilding, standing 
 by the road. 
 
 A note of gladness escaped the girl as she prodded 
 her lagging limbs to vigorous effort. She was cer- 
 tain of a house which should be near at hand. And 
 her theory was right. There had been a dwelling, 
 once, at the place, and its ruins were there when she 
 came to the site the mute, gaunt bones of a structure, 
 consumed in the autumn by fire. 
 
 Thurley could have wept, from weariness and disap- 
 pointment. She stumbled back to the shedlike build- 
 ing, once a blacksmith shop, effected an entrance
 
 300 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 where a board was torn away, and, sinking down 
 where a few old shavings had escaped the pencils of 
 snow, flung in at gaping cracks, she sheltered herself 
 as best she might, in a broken box beneath a work- 
 man's bench and was thankful to God for rest.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A NIGHT OF TOIL 
 
 ALICE VAN KIRK on Sunday afternoon felt as if the 
 suspense and strain of uncertainty would completely 
 break her down. The morning had been sufficiently 
 insupportable. She had hardly slept all night, and, 
 with Stuyverant reporting no progress after ten 
 o'clock, her cup of anguish had seemed full to over- 
 flowing. But the afternoon, as mockingly barren of 
 news or hope as any hours already endured, brought 
 calls and callers innumerable, with inquiries as to Thur- 
 ley's health, invitations for the week forthcoming, and 
 astonishment and curiosity on the part of those who 
 discovered by personal attendance at the mansion that 
 Thurley was away. 
 
 Alice had not revealed the truth to anyone save Rob- 
 ley and the Baron. She feared and dreaded the ru- 
 mors and gossip, the exaggerated tales, and the ines- 
 capable suspicions that knowledge of the " Princess' ' 
 disappearance would immediately engender. Never- 
 theless to maintain a smiling composure and to parry 
 insidious queries was taxing the utmost of her ingenuity 
 and all but driving her distracted. 
 
 Major Phipps, who had been away, recuperating 
 from his literary labors for several weeks, was one of 
 the callers. He came with Kelsey Woods, and was an- 
 noyingly insistent in his probing as to Thurley, her 
 whereabouts and prospects. Willie Stetson, with 
 
 301
 
 302 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 twenty different bunches of flowers for Thurley to ac- 
 cept or reject, but to exercise her wholly untrammeled 
 choice upon, was early on the scene. Algy Dearborn 
 brought a brand new limerick. Captain Fowler and 
 Beau Brymmer of the Diplomatic service arrived al- 
 most together. 
 
 Lady Honore Calthorp and Count Fiaschi came to- 
 gether, as they had on a number of occasions. Gail- 
 lard came later, with floral contributions, and by great 
 good fortune did not collide with the Count. 
 
 Fiaschi was sufficiently persistent in his reiterated 
 desire to be made acquainted at once with Thur- 
 ley's whereabouts. He cornered Alice by herself, at a 
 moment when the others were engaged in a mild debate 
 on woman suffrage, and repeated his wishes anew. 
 
 " It is not that I shall be considered as one of the 
 limpid others," he explained. " My nature is one of 
 fire and action ah ! so impatient to- move, to sur- 
 round! Miss Thurley herself understands. She 
 would wish it for me to be informed where she is, what 
 she does away from her home, where I shall send my 
 eager thoughts to remind her of the pleasant times 
 whenever we have met ! " 
 
 " I quite understand," said Alice, distraught by her 
 haunting fears. " If I were to tell you, Count Fiaschi, 
 that she is far away and in peril, what would your fire 
 and action do ? " 
 
 He grinned. " I should be aware, dear lady, that 
 you are a humorous people, you Americans. I shall 
 wait. She must presently return. My longing shall 
 bring her back ! " 
 
 " Perhaps," said Alice ; " but I would pray God to 
 send her a humorous American man with a good
 
 A NIGHT OF TOIL 303 
 
 strong arm and fearless heart no hothouse absent 
 treatment!" She rose and joined the others rest- 
 lessly, her feeling one of negative guilt, that she talked 
 and smiled with guests like these and did nothing at all 
 for Thurley. 
 
 She was glad when they went, particularly glad to 
 be rid of the glib Fiaschi shamelessly boasting of 
 the heat of his heart that she knew to be colder than 
 brass. 
 
 But if the Count was insistent, Gaillard was fairly 
 intolerable. The man was at the brink of ruin. His 
 nerves were as brittle as glass. He was pale, irritable, 
 strung taut as a rope between two twisting screws. 
 Fiaschi had crowded him fairly to the edge and he 
 felt already that the slightest push must hurl him 
 downward to the pit. 
 
 Someway, in his desperate plight, he felt the neces- 
 sity for Thurley Ruxton, a someone of the other days, 
 to whom to open the gates of his soul and relieve the 
 pressure within. She had not replied to his letter, 
 that note amounting to a curt demand that she permit 
 him to announce their engagement. Irrationally he 
 told himself that if she had only sent him word, definite 
 word, even a negative reply, the entire fabric of his 
 luck must have undergone a transformation. 
 
 He was not prepared to accept her no for his answer. 
 To-day, however, it was anything to find her, and per- 
 haps compel her to consent to be his wife. He felt it 
 would conquer Fiaschi. To discover that she was ab- 
 sent from the scene, and to receive no adequate expla- 
 nation of what her absence meant, increased his annoy- 
 ance and impatience. 
 
 " See here ! " he said to Alice, in his domineering way,
 
 304 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 the moment he could snatch her away from the others. 
 " We both understand that my position with Thurley 
 is unlike that of anyone else. I've .a right to know 
 where she's gone." 
 
 Alice was nettled. " I wish it were such a right as 
 might keep you better informed, more vitally in touch 
 with events, and then perhaps you might assist instead 
 of goading me." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " he demanded. " You're 
 not declaring your ignorance as to where she is ? " 
 
 " And if I were, what then? " 
 
 He narrowed his gaze upon her, countless suspicions 
 flashing briefly in his brain. " You're sure she hasn't 
 gone to New Haven?" he said. "It isn't some at- 
 tempt to erase all final traces of the past? " 
 
 Alice could almost have slapped him. " Her past 
 with you ? " she queried, as she had on a previous oc- 
 casion. " I am sure there is no occasion Mr. Gail- 
 lard, if, as you say, you occupy a peculiar position 
 with regard to Thurley, what would you think your 
 duty, should anything arise to menace her happiness, 
 her freedom, her life? v 
 
 She had masked her intensity of feeling, or, if she 
 had not, Gaillard failed to penetrate her thin veneer of 
 calm. He smiled again, in his mirthless, sardonic 
 manner, the manner of one desperate, no matter where 
 he turns. 
 
 "Is this some trap for me?" he inquired. "Does 
 it snap, upon my answer ? " 
 
 " It does, to some extent, though my question was 
 not intended as a trap precisely." 
 
 " May I exercise the privilege of avoiding the 
 trap? " 
 
 " You may think the trap avoided."
 
 A NIGHT OF TOIL 305 
 
 He ceased to smile. " I suppose you mean I am 
 trapped, no matter how I answer? " 
 
 Alice shrugged her shoulders. " Your fate is of 
 your own making, not of mine. Suppose Thurley 
 needed help? You claim you occupy a special posi- 
 tion in her destiny. How far would you be willing to 
 go, what would you sacrifice to find her and give her as- 
 sistance? " 
 
 Gaillard wondered if perchance the game was over 
 and Thurley sent away; whether Alice Van Kirk had 
 begun to fear detection of their game and had brought 
 it to a sudden termination. His attitude was altered 
 by the thought, so lightly did his weather vane respond 
 to a zephyr of change. 
 
 " If she's out of town," he replied, " I'd do what I 
 could ; do anything in reason except, of course, to 
 leave the city just at present. God knows my whole 
 career may depend on my being here now every 
 minute ! " 
 
 " Exactly," said Alice, and that was her final word 
 with the man, but not her final disgust. 
 
 She sounded nearly every man who had hung on 
 Thurley's words and moves, while flowers and speeches 
 were the price. There was none in them all, she felt 
 convinced, with the manhood, the courage, and the self 
 denial to risk his comfort, far less risk his life, should 
 the " Princess " require such sacrifice to defend her, 
 perhaps from death. 
 
 In the final analysis not a few regarded Thurley 
 as already the prize, and therefore the charge, of the 
 young Grand Duke Karl-Wilhelm. They would gladly 
 flirt with his affianced bride; but her dangers were all 
 for him. 
 
 It was late when Stuyverant 'phoned at last that a
 
 306 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 faint star of hope had risen. His message was brief 
 and excited, the merest statement that a hint had ar- 
 rived at the Baron's headquarters and that anything 
 further that might develop would be 'phoned in later 
 on. He was going, Robley added, to a place far out 
 from Manhattan, to investigate a vague report that 
 might prove utterly groundless. It was something at 
 least on which to act, and midnight would tell the 
 tale. 
 
 To all of Alice's eager questions he returned the 
 vaguest of answers, presently hanging up the 'phone. 
 If disappointment lurked beyond, he preferred to ac- 
 cept its brunt himself and not raise beaming expecta- 
 tions, to dash them later in the night. 
 
 It was late when he started in his car, with his man 
 in the driver's seat. He had ascertained that no rail- 
 road trains ran nearer than fifteen miles or more to the 
 west of North Winog. He was dressed in furs which 
 differed but slightly from those of his mechanician. 
 Wolfskin robes were heaped in the tonneau's hold, 
 should occasion arise for their use. 
 
 Their lamps were lighted on the ferryboat. Half 
 an hour later, with nearly four clear hours ahead of 
 them in which to cover a distance calculated at some- 
 thing under seventy miles, the car was going like a 
 huge projectile over roads hard as flint. 
 
 The darkness descended swiftly. The night was 
 moonless ; but the film of snow that lay on all that life- 
 less world reflected the dim refulgence of the heavens, 
 clearly defining the pike. For more than a quarter of 
 the distance the big dark device of modern power and 
 velocity shot through villages, past fields, and over 
 bridges like a thing made glad by its own sheer might
 
 A NIGHT OF TOIL 307 
 
 and perfection. Then, it blew out a tire, and a long, 
 heart racking siege of disasters had been ushered in, as 
 if at the beckoning of Fate. 
 
 A cylinder began to miss, almost upon the resumption 
 of the journey. For fully an hour both Stuyverant 
 and his man sought vainly to locate the trouble. When 
 they came upon it finally they found it somewhat se- 
 rious, a valve rod sticking every other minute, and then 
 for a time running normally. Filing and oiling aided 
 materially; but the lost minutes were totaling fast. 
 
 When once he could drive ahead again, the chauffeur 
 urged such terrific speed that wreckage was constantly 
 threatened. One violent maneuver resulting from this 
 recklessness stripped out the gears of the intermediate 
 speed. A battery connection, shaken loose, brought 
 on a recurrence of the missing for which the valve 
 rod was for long mistakenly attacked. 
 
 One crushing, delaying complication after another 
 arose. The great machine, now racing, now barely 
 toiling in the highway, performed every known de- 
 pravity of steel and spark and gasolene. Another tire 
 went the way of ruin. Impatiently, wildly, Stuy- 
 verant strove to redeem lost time ; but in vain. It was 
 one interminable series of delays, repairs, and exhaust- 
 ing efforts to keep the machine on its legs. 
 
 Eight o'clock found them far from anywhere, with 
 forty miles to go. Calamity overtook them almost 
 while they reckoned that, with luck, they would still be 
 late no more than half an hour. 
 
 At nine they were down and out again, Stuyverant 
 groaning in vain. He had looked at his watch a hun- 
 dred times, and now, with more than thirty miles to 
 travel, was sweating in the frozen wind, to think of
 
 308 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 what might be happening where Thurley waited, peer- 
 ing through the night for the help that could not ar- 
 rive. 
 
 How they limped along toward North Winog, Rob- 
 ley could never have told. It seemed a veritable night- 
 mare of helplessness, wherein he struggled furiously to 
 get ahead, only to be baffled, hindered, stalled, by things 
 intangible that may not be engaged and overcome. 
 
 It was midnight and past when they came at last to 
 the village. They had gone astray from the road, 
 among their other accidents, and expended an hour 
 getting back. The little settlement in which they 
 found themselves at last seemed part of the frozen 
 world. Not a light was shown from any house, where 
 all appeared like spectral things, merely mockeries of 
 men's abodes, with glassy eyes lifelessly staring. 
 
 Leaving his man in charge of the car, Stuyverant 
 hastened off at once to find the abandoned mill. He 
 came there at last, discovering an empty old ruin 
 through which the wind was howling dismally. Armed 
 as he was, he nevertheless approached it with caution, 
 only to ascertain that a burial place would exhibit 
 more cheer and life. 
 
 He knew that if Thurley had been here at all she 
 had long since gone away. Bitterness, self accusation, 
 and impotent bickerings at fates and accidents con- 
 sumed him there in the wind. It seemed so utterly 
 puerile to have come for this, and be obliged to turn 
 about and return the way he had traveled, crowned 
 with defeat and disappointment. 
 
 There was nothing about the structure to give him 
 the slightest guidance, or a hint as to what he should 
 do. He could only turn disgustedly away, reviling
 
 A NIGHT OF TOIL 309 
 
 himself for failure in Thurley's hour of need, and face 
 the cold and desolation between himself and his car. 
 
 Harassed, even tortured by worry and apprehen- 
 sion as to what his delinquency might have involved, 
 he could only wonder vaguely how possible to serve 
 the " Princess " now. He could think of one thing 
 only remain for the night at North Winog and by 
 search and inquiry, early in the morning, redeem a lit- 
 tle of his effort. 
 
 He came to the village street some distance from his 
 car. Up the road he went, as rapidly as possible, 
 wondering soon if his man had curled himself down in 
 the furs to keep himself warm as he waited. He had 
 rather expected the man to be walking about in the 
 road, warming himself by motion. 
 
 " Banks ! " he called, as he came in speaking distance ; 
 but no reply was returned. 
 
 He came to the car, glanced in at the tonneau, dis- 
 covered it empty of anything save the furs, and was 
 passing along to the front of the hood when he all but 
 fell over his man. 
 
 He was lying loosely crumpled in the road, his hat a 
 little thrown aside, his face marble white on the snow. 
 
 " Banks ! " cried Stuyverant, kneeling down ; but the 
 man, unconscious, left there for dead by Pelevin and 
 Max, returning from their long cold wait at the mill, 
 neither heard nor felt nor moved.
 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 
 THE GOLD OF MORNING 
 
 IT was not till an hour afterward, with the village 
 astir and the neighborhood agog, that Stuyverant 
 paused for a moment to wonder why his chauffeur had 
 been attacked. He was unaware that Banks, in the 
 night's dim starlight, resembled the Grand Duke Karl 
 somewhat strikingly. 
 
 The task of dragging and carrying Banks to a house, 
 arousing the inmates, and inducing the frightened men 
 and hysterical women of the immediate vicinity to help 
 him save his mechanician's life, had occupied all his 
 strength and thought. 
 
 Underlying all of this was a dull but throbbing con- 
 sciousness that Thurley was somewhere, near or far, 
 disappointed, if alive, and doubtless in the hands 
 of assassins allied with those who must have beaten 
 Banks. It was never possible, for even the part of a 
 second, to forget that the " Princess " had called him, 
 sent him her brief appeal, expected him here, or some- 
 where, at the fateful hour of nine. 
 
 He felt that now, in the hours left of a long disas- 
 trous night, he should be in his car, driving hither and 
 yon moving moving doing something definite - 
 something to find her and help her ! He groaned at the 
 necessity of serving Banks, while neglecting Thurley, 
 though the loyal impulse of his nature urged him readily 
 to give all he could to his man. 
 
 310
 
 THE GOLD OF MORNING 311 
 
 Banks had sustained a frightful blow on the skull. 
 That the arch of bone had not been more severely frafr- 
 tured or even crumpled inward was a miracle, due per- 
 haps to the thickness of his hair. He had not revived 
 till nearly three in the morning, and then for a moment 
 only. A local physician, summoned tardily, had ex- 
 hausted himself and his resources early, while the minis- 
 trations of the women served to better purpose. 
 
 It was daylight, and Stuyverant was still tirelessly 
 assisting and directing operations, when his man at 
 length gave assurance of assuming his normal function- 
 ing, so suddenly interrupted and so near its termination. 
 The man, however, would be too ill and weak to be 
 moved for several days. The name of a skillful woman 
 nurse was supplied, in answer to Stuyverant's demands. 
 She lived in a larger village twenty miles away, whither 
 no one could go in a hurry. There was no alternative, 
 as Robley knew he must go in his car, and drive the 
 machine himself. 
 
 He drank three steaming cups of coffee, thoughtfully 
 provided by the one calm woman of the house, and 
 started on his way. 
 
 The sun arose in clouds and blue together, its first 
 frost brightened rays appearing to press upon the earth 
 a colder wave of air. Far off on a lonesome, snow-i 
 strewn road, Thurley had meantime roused from an in- 
 activity which could scarcely be described as sleep. She 
 had shivered and chattered all night in her box, draw- 
 ing shavings and her tattered cloak about her chilling 
 limbs and shoulders, and had risen at times to beat her 
 hands, tramp up and down the shop, and otherwise 
 struggle with the numbing cold that crept to the mar- 
 row of her bones.
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 The first faint streaks of dawn had readily addressed 
 her senses, alert for signs that the night was passed, 
 since its darkness and drag had seemed to be centuries 
 long. She had slipped from the shedlike structure, 
 only to find the half-dim world a scene of chill and deso- 
 lation. The wind had sought her instantly, as if in 
 greed for a victim long denied. To face the road thus 
 early was utterly disheartening. She was not even sure 
 of the way she had come. Back to the darkness of the 
 partly sheltered shop she hastened, to hunt in vain 
 for a match, whereby a fire might be lighted in the 
 forge. 
 
 When at last the sun put a finger through a crack 
 a slender, golden finger, cold but comforting, smolder- 
 ing hope took flame again in the heart of the weary 
 girl. Her courage was endless. She felt that if only 
 she could find a house, with any sort of welcome, in a 
 space of twenty miles, she would walk and make no com- 
 plaint. 
 
 No sooner had she issued forth, however, and ascer- 
 tained her right direction by sight of the fire-ruined 
 house, than all the old fears of the previous night, plus 
 a hundred more, returned to reignite her fever. The 
 darkness, after all, had been her friend. By the morn- 
 ing's light those terrible men and the frightful woman 
 at the house she had quitted would soon be infesting 
 every road. They could not long remain in ignorance 
 of her escape, if they had not, indeed, discovered her 
 absence early in the night. 
 
 It seemed almost as if perhaps her greater safety lay 
 in remaining at the shop. Yet there they might also 
 presently search; and there she could starve, or perish 
 with cold, before she might perchance be enabled to hail
 
 THE GOLD OF MORNING 313 
 
 some passing vehicle and beg for aid and protection. 
 And how should she know from whom to implore as- 
 sistance, since of all the men she had heard at the house 
 she had seen but one, Pelevin? 
 
 She knew she must simply hasten on, as fast as stiff- 
 ened, aching limbs could carry her down the road. If 
 only the chain about her waist could be dropped, she 
 should feel such tremendous relief! She was powerless, 
 however, to remove it, and breathlessly expectant that 
 any moment she might be startled by a shout, as pursu- 
 ing men espied and bore down upon her, she faced the 
 bleakness of the lifeless road and trudged bravely on- 
 ward as before. 
 
 She had certainly gone far less than a mile, and was 
 coming to a wooden bridge that spanned a black little 
 stream, when out of the crispness of the morning air 
 came a series of sharp percussions. 
 
 She knew them at once, the rapid fire discharges of a 
 motor car with the muffler cutout open. Her heart 
 leaped like a doe discovered by a hunter. The car was 
 somewhere down ahead, but was not in sight, where the 
 road was curved in the woods. Instinctively certain 
 that pursuit alone could arouse men at sunrise, she 
 darted swiftly to the bridge, leaped down a frozen bank 
 of gravel, and was presently crouching in the shadows 
 by the stream, holding her breath to still her heart, 
 which she felt must betray her with its beating. 
 
 She had not long to wait. The car thus early dis- 
 turbing the silence sped with a snarl of power to the 
 bridge and over its planks, rattling down dust and bits 
 of snow on the girl as gray as her cloak. 
 
 It was gone as quickly, its two eager occupants, 
 Max and Jan, wildly searching road, copse, and field
 
 314 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 as they rounded the circle back to the house from which 
 their intended victim had escaped. 
 
 They had made their discovery shortly after two in 
 the morning. Returning from their wait at the mill 
 and their murderous assault, made upon Banks, who had 
 been discovered too late to be another person than the 
 young Grand Duke, they had striven in vain to arouse 
 Zagorsky, till the door had been forced and the truth 
 abruptly discovered. 
 
 At daylight the search on foot had begun, then the 
 car brought into requisition. They had taken a road 
 where some tracks in the snow had been left undisturbed 
 by the wind. The tracks were not Thurley's. Now 
 their circle brought them back again, calculations con- 
 vincing both the men that their captive could scarcely 
 have gone so far, even by walking all night. 
 
 When they came to the oldtime blacksmith shop, they 
 halted and broke in the door. 
 
 Thurley, meantime, not having dared attempt a look 
 when the car was passing, remained in her place of con- 
 cealment till the faintest sound had died away in the 
 distance. When she emerged, to clamber once more to 
 the frozen road and hasten on more feverishly than be- 
 fore, she was suddenly afflicted by a second thought 
 which made her sick with disappointment. 
 
 It might have been Robley in his car from whom she 
 had hidden at the bridge ! He might have received her 
 note at last, and have come as soon as possible, arriving 
 only at dawn ! It was highly improbable, after all, 
 that creatures such as she had seen at the house of her 
 imprisonment would employ an automobile. 
 
 She could almost have cried, she could almost have 
 turned and run where the car had disappeared ; but the
 
 THE GOLD OF MORNING 315 
 
 thought of proceeding in that direction was intensely 
 frightening ; she could only plod ahead. 
 
 How far she had trudged when once again she heard 
 the lively puncturing of the air by a motor's exhaust, 
 Thurley neither knew nor cared. She was once more 
 possessed by alarms and excitements, the instincts of 
 precaution, the hope of deliverance and friends. 
 
 The car she heard was behind her. It was not yet to 
 be seen, so winding was the road. She had halted op- 
 posite a more than usually desolate area, where trees 
 had been cut, earth hauled away, and stumps left strewn 
 in dismal neglect. She darted to the cover that the 
 nearest one afforded, and concealed herself behind its 
 blackened bulk. 
 
 The car was coming rapidly, still hidden by the 
 earthy bank where excavations had ceased. It slowed 
 to take a furrowed bit of road, its muffler purring 
 quietly, then rolled into view with the sunlight gleam- 
 ing from its brass. 
 
 " Robley ! " cried Thurley, leaping to her feet, and 
 stumbling and pitching grotesquely, to catch her bal- 
 ance where a frozen clod had caught her foot, she saw 
 the startled, whitened face of Stuyverant turned upon 
 her and felt as if her very soul must leap from her 
 bosom in joy. 
 
 He had halted his car as if it had struck a wall. He 
 leaped from his seat as he had that day when he fell, 
 and ran to catch her in his arms, as she lunged once 
 more to fall from weakness and the stiffness of her 
 body. 
 
 "Thurley!" he said. "Thurley! In God's name 
 how " 
 
 " Oh, get me away ! Don't stop ! " she interrupted
 
 316 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 wildly, clinging to him helplessly. " I've walked so far 
 and they may be coming any minute ! Oh, you've 
 come you've come! I don't see how you ever found 
 me ! But please don't wait don't talk ! Let's go 
 just as fast as ever we can ! " 
 
 " But Thurley who Let me help you in," he 
 said to her, leading her promptly round the car, where 
 she climbed to the seat beside his own. " There's no 
 one on the road. You're cold! Good heavens, what 
 you must have been through! You must take these 
 robes. Perhaps you'd better ride in the back. Which 
 way do you wish me to go ? " 
 
 So many words, explanations, and questions were on 
 his mind that he abandoned coherence in despair. And 
 Thurley, weakened by sudden relief and reliance on his 
 strength, could only sink in the cushioned seat, muffled 
 with furs, and reply in broken sentences. 
 
 " I'd rather ride here. Oh, to see you anyone 
 after it all ! The horrible dream ! But they'll come 
 they'll come ! Just straight ahead anywhere but 
 back that other way somewhere to get a train or 
 reach a house and demand protection ! They'd stop at 
 nothing now ! Just please make it go ! " 
 
 The car started slowly down the road. 
 
 '' You're safe," he assured her, gaining in calm as; 
 her weakness increased upon her and the need for his 
 strength arose. "You're excited, Thurley nat- 
 urally. God ! to think " 
 
 "What's that?" she interrupted wildly, her eyes 
 tremendously dilated and blazing in his own. 
 
 "What's what? I 
 
 " It's another car ! Oh, if it should be " 
 
 She had turned to look backward on the highway.
 
 THE GOLD OF MORNING 317 
 
 Suddenly round the turn shot a big red limousine, two 
 men on the seat in front. 
 
 One of the men half rose by the wheel and let out a 
 yell like a fiend. 
 
 Stuyverant's car had already responded to his urging 
 of spark and throttle. He felt Thurley slump in sick- 
 ening fear, and understood the situation as no spoken 
 word could have told him. 
 
 He crowded on his utmost power, the monster beneath 
 him lurched forward like a liberated locomotive, and a 
 furious race began.
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 
 THE BACE 
 
 THERE was certainly less than three hundred yards be- 
 tween the cars when Jan and Max, who had turned, five 
 miles back, on suspicion, to pursue the Stuyverant ma- 
 chine, were obliged to slow for the briefest period, where 
 the ruts would have wrecked their motor. 
 
 Stuyverant, glancing back at them quickly, was con- 
 fident of winning, should his car behave its best; but 
 his face was grim. 
 
 " These men have no right wouldn't dare " he 
 started to cry ; but he realized they would halt at noth- 
 ing, as a vivid conviction was flashed on his brain that 
 doubtless they had struck the blow that had all but 
 killed his man. 
 
 " We're gaining ! " cried Thurley, her strength and 
 courage reasserting themselves with wonderful resil- 
 ience. " Can you give her any more? " 
 
 For his answer Stuyverant j ammed the muffler cutout 
 with his heel. A terrific series of detonations in- 
 stantly followed. The car plunged forward with newer 
 zest and trees shot past in a blur. 
 
 In the moment's advantage, caused by the ruts that 
 held the pursuing monster at the rear, they nearly 
 doubled their lead. Then on came the giant limousine 
 like the fragment of a meteor ripping up the road. 
 
 It was Jan driving, his rage prodigious, his lust for 
 murder now a mania, broken from its bonds. The car 
 was one of enormous power, a racing model, equipped 
 
 318
 
 THE RACE 319 
 
 with the limousine for winter use, and but little hindered 
 by this bulky superstructure. Its six big cylinders 
 were pouring might and a gatling fusillade upon the 
 road. It roared like an engine of doom and destruc- 
 tion, hurtling and rocketing to overtake the fleeing ma- 
 chine ahead. 
 
 Stuyverant's car was low to the ground, like a grey- 
 hound eager for work. For some inexplicable rea- 
 son the motor, that had balked in the night, was run- 
 ning like a dream, its mighty pistons hurtling a cat- 
 aract of power upon the shaft and wheels. Despite 
 the superior dynamic of the car behind, it continued to 
 creep away. 
 
 Snow, frozen dust, and a stifling cloud of fumes 
 seemed scorched from Stuyverant's path when he leaned 
 a little forward and gave more oil to the swiftly heating 
 motor. Din, crazy speed, and appalling velocity 
 marked the course where the huge devices raced. 
 
 A knife-edge wind seemed hurling down upon Thur- 
 ley, as they split the frozen air. The road became a 
 torrent, rushing incredibly, under their wheels, its gray 
 and snow white blended in a froth. They swung about 
 an angle in the highway, out upon a wider pike, which 
 led straightaway to a village, small in size. 
 
 For one brief second Stuyverant dreamed that to halt 
 in the town and demand protection might be advisable; 
 but he almost as quickly abandoned the thought as an 
 invitation to death. Not only was the settlement in- 
 significant, and the hour too early for its officers to be 
 astir in the street, but the fiery projectile behind, belch- 
 ing red flame and scorching the very snow from its 
 path, was heating to new efficiency and making percep- 
 tible gains.
 
 320 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 There was nothing on earth that Robley could 3o by 
 way of giving more power to his car or heaving out 
 freight to make it lighter. He could only attempt to 
 hold his lead by absolutely reckless driving, hoping that 
 some deserved catastrophe might overtake the minotaur 
 of evil there behind. 
 
 They shot through the village like a fury of battle, 
 hurled by a monstrous hurricane, frightful echoes of 
 their gatling fire thundering back from the houses. 
 
 A sharp staccato, like a pistol shot, in the uproar of 
 red-hot exhausts, pierced through the roaring of the 
 car behind and told of a " miss " in one of her six great 
 cylinders. 
 
 Two men and a dog had spun dizzily past, the sole 
 signs of life in the place. 
 
 Again that barking explosion came, and Stuyverant's 
 heart and his stampeding car leaped like animals to- 
 gether. He knew his pursuers were in trouble. 
 
 By yards and rods the limousine was falling to the 
 rear. Lamed by the one balking cylinder, now running, 
 now dead for a second or less, it relinquished speed like 
 a Marathon runner facing a hill on the final lap of his 
 race. 
 
 A gap of nearly a mile's extent was swiftly opened be- 
 tween the two, as Stuyverant held to his speed. Exul- 
 tation, burning in his pulses, flaring in his motor, and 
 roaring in his wake, made hot his frame, despite the 
 biting wind, and brightened his eyes with triumph. 
 
 He shot to the cover of a stretch of woods, where 
 the road wound westward like a river. A crack like a 
 rifle's incisive note rang out on the air, and his car 
 swerved wildly from the road. 
 
 A tire had gone from the right fore wheel, and a
 
 THE RACE 
 
 spring was snapped as he wrenched her back and saved 
 them from destruction. 
 
 It was madness to drive at speed after that, and he 
 groaned as he slowed her to reason. 
 
 He had to keep on, despite his flattened casing. And 
 his wrist all but failed as he clung to the wheel, holding 
 the cripple from plunging away on a tangent of death 
 for them both. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the accident, the air 
 startling roar of the huge six-cylinder came vibrantly 
 and clearly on the wind. It was back in tune, with no 
 more missing to cut its power down. 
 
 " They'll catch us, Thurley ! " he called to the girl. 
 " We're done for now on speed." 
 
 She knew precisely what had happened. She knew 
 how utterly mad it would be to race with a flat- 
 tened front tire. On this rutted road it was not to 
 be attempted for a moment. It would be fairly sui- 
 cidal. 
 
 She could think of nothing to say and Stuyverant 
 shouted, " What shall we do? " 
 
 The car was still racing, but slowly now, her speed 
 perhaps sufficient to elude the pursuers for five or six 
 minutes or more. 
 
 " We couldn't hide? " cried Thurley, and Stuyverant 
 glanced at the woods. 
 
 " There's just one chance," he called above the din, 
 releasing the muffler cut-out for the purpose. " Give 
 me your cloak. You take my cap and furs. I'll get 
 out and run, so the devils can see me and you drive 
 on. They'll think it is I still driving, and you are run- 
 ning to hide. Slip off your cloak and be quick." He 
 halted the car as he spoke.
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " But oh, if anything " Thurley started, when he 
 interrupted quickly. 
 
 " No time to talk or argue. It's the only chance. 
 Your cloak!" 
 
 He had dropped off his great fur coat and clapped 
 his cap upon her head. She rose and he stripped her of 
 the old gray garment, helping her swiftly into the furs 
 and urging her into his seat. 
 
 " If they catch you, Robley " she started as be- 
 fore. " I mustn't let " 
 
 " I love you ! " he said, in the stress and white heat of 
 the moment. " I'd give, my life to serve you ! Quick 
 there isn't a moment to lose ! Open her up as wide 
 as you dare to drive, and don't stop for anything 
 on earth ! " He leaped from the car and started 
 for the woods, covered from heels to crown by the long 
 gray cloak that Thurley had trailed in the night. 
 "Good by!" he called. "Don't wait! Don't wait! 
 They're nearly in sight up the road ! " 
 
 " Good by ! " she replied, the tears swiftly springing 
 in her softened eyes, and, starting the car with her firm, 
 young skill, reinforced by the courage demanded by the 
 moment, she was going again at dizzying speed when 
 the huge limousine, belching and roaring with malevo- 
 lence and blood lust, shot into view around the bend, and 
 Stuyverant ran to a bit of brush and crouched as if to 
 hide. 
 
 One yell of satisfaction, barely audible to Robley, 
 ascended from the pursuing car and informed him he 
 had been seen. 
 
 Almost at once the detonations of the limousine 
 ceased. The car was halted; for the roadway bent a 
 trifle, and the way to the woods was shorter from here 
 than from where the fugutive had started.
 
 THE RACE 
 
 Both men leaped from the heated monster and started 
 across the snow and broken ground, rapidly approach- 
 ing the spot where Stuyverant was hiding. He leaped 
 to his feet and, through dry weeds, ran as if stagger- 
 ing with terror. 
 
 One man fell, but rose again, cursing the root that 
 had thrown him down and drawing his knife as he once 
 more darted forward. It was Jan, and he quickly over- 
 took his less fiendish comrade, with the quarry now 
 nearly in his grasp. 
 
 Stuyverant felt for his pistol and nearly collapsed 
 with a sudden memory he had left it in the car. For a 
 moment he nearly went wild with disappointment, then 
 adopted a desperate plan. Nothing but quickness and 
 the great advantage of surprise could avail to save him 
 now, and this he knew. 
 
 He seemed to struggle on. When out of the corner 
 of his eye he could see his pursuer's shadow, and in his 
 ear caught the puff and snort of the fellow's breathing, 
 he suddenly halted, turned like a flash, and struck the 
 man with all his might, fairly in the pit of the stomach. 
 
 Down he went like a stricken bullock, doubled with 
 agony, to writhe on the earth in pain and loss of breath. 
 
 Leaping fairly across his helpless form, Stuyverant 
 met the German, Max, with an equally unexpected and 
 unparried blow, on the point of the chin, and saw him 
 quiver where he fell. 
 
 It was all accomplished in the briefest span, a matter 
 made comparatively easy by the wholly unlocked for 
 method of attack. 
 
 Panting and white, with rage and his effort, Robley 
 regarded the first of the two with eyes that gleamed like 
 steel. The creature was helpless, rolling his eyes in an 
 anguish that did not subside.
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " You curs ! " said Stuyverant, taking up the knife 
 that Jan had let fall from his hand, and, starting at 
 once to make further pursuit impossible, he ran and 
 walked to their waiting car and clambered to the 
 seat. 
 
 For the first time then, as he made an attempt to 
 grip the wheel with his hand, he realized that his wrist 
 was gone, from the blows he had just delivered. In its 
 mending condition it had been too weak to sustain the 
 force of the shock. It was useless, though not again 
 broken. 
 
 He had hoped to take the limousine and continue af- 
 ter Thurley. Such a course was out of the question. 
 But to wreck the car was well within his power. He 
 made ready to leap, slipped in the clutch, speeded up as 
 much as he dared, then, pushing the spark and throttle 
 forward, jumped out at the side, and permitted the 
 erstwhile roaring monster to rush unguided down the 
 road. 
 
 For a moment it clung to the straight bit of road like 
 a thing endowed with life; then, gathering speed, and 
 lunging forward like a maddened animal, it suddenly 
 veered at the highway's curve and plunged with vio- 
 lence incredible down through a glade of the snow and 
 ice, ramming a tree with an impact tremendous to be- 
 hold. 
 
 There was a crash of shattered glass, fierce grinding 
 sounds, the crunching of iron, and turmoil of twisting 
 steel, and its wreckage and ruin were complete. 
 
 Stuyverant started down the road where Thurley had 
 gone, on foot. There was nothing else to do, no other 
 place to go. He merely wondered how far she might 
 have sped, how far he must walk to come to a village and
 
 THE RACE 325 
 
 get a train at last perhaps with the " Princess," 
 and perhaps alone. 
 
 He glanced back repeatedly, until at length he came 
 to a turn of the highway, beyond which was an opening 
 through the woods affording a view of all the open space 
 where he had met his murderous assailants. Until the 
 place was hidden from his view, he saw no sign that 
 either man had risen from the earth. 
 
 He was going rapidly, merely intent upon making all 
 possible progress, and inclined to believe that Thurley 
 might attempt to secure assistance beyond and return 
 again to the scene, when he was thoroughly astounded 
 to discover his car, standing unattended in the road, 
 some distance ahead, a bit of bluish mist between the 
 wheels revealing the fact that the motor was in motion. 
 
 He hastened his pace, alarmed anew as he saw no 
 sign of Thurley. Then he came to the side of the 
 trembling machine and glanced hurriedly about. Thur- 
 ley had disappeared. 
 
 For a moment possessed with the wildest beliefs that 
 some new calamity met in this direction had accom- 
 plished her destruction after all, he ran ahead, came 
 back, called out her name, and searched all the wooded 
 copse with a quickly roving gaze. 
 
 Not a ruffling nor a track did the snow in that direc- 
 tion afford. On the road's other side the wind had 
 cleared the frozen earth, making footprints out of the 
 question. But he hastened there, and beheld in the 
 field quite a distance away something furry that lay in 
 the snow. 
 
 It was Thurley. When she drove away and left the 
 scene where Stuyverant, running and hiding, was in- 
 viting perhaps even death to overtake him, she had al-
 
 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 most immediately suffered a sense of selfishness in at- 
 tempting to escape, while abandoning the man she 
 knew she dearly loved.' 
 
 She had merely obeyed instructions hurriedly sup- 
 plied. Then the limping car, bumping stiffly over 
 frozen ruts, had presently added an element unforeseen. 
 The seat cushion next to the one she occupied was jolted 
 from its place. In a shallow receptacle where it had 
 been placed lay Stuyverant's revolver. 
 
 The car had arrived at the turn of the road afford- 
 ing a second view of the field where Stuyverant was run- 
 ning. As Thurley looked she beheld a man go down in 
 a sudden encounter. She was certain it was Robley, 
 viciously attacked by the creatures at his heels. 
 
 She had halted the car, snatched up the revolver, and 
 run with all her might toward the place half seen be- 
 yond. Then her foot struck a root, she plunged head- 
 foremost on the earth, the pistol was discharged, and 
 she lay there, motionless and white.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 A JOY RESISTED 
 
 STUYVERANT came running to the place, the gravest 
 fears overwhelming his sense of reflection. One impres- 
 sion only was his mind prepared to accept a second 
 foe had accomplished what the others had earlier failed 
 to perform ! The pistol, gleaming in her hand, sent a 
 newer shock to his heart. He bent down at once and 
 raising Thurley's head, made a quick examination which 
 revealed no sign of a wound. The bullet had done no 
 harm. 
 
 Thurley had struck on a frozen clod and the blow had 
 stunned her senses. Stuyverant could not determine, 
 however, the nature or extent of her injuries, and feared 
 they were the worst. His mind was possessed by the 
 thought of menace in all that wintry scene. He felt 
 the most urgent necessity for getting her back to the 
 car and far away without another moment's loss of 
 time. 
 
 He attempted to lift her prostrate form ; but his 
 wrist was far too weak. He merely succeeded in roll- 
 ing her over and raising her head to his knee ; but that 
 was sufficient. 
 
 Thurley returned to consciousness with astonishing 
 celerity, once her position was altered. She opened her 
 eyes and looked at Stuyverant wistfully, as if some fear 
 that she had only dreamed of this deliverance were col- 
 oring all her thoughts. 
 
 "You're hurt?" he said eagerly. "What hap- 
 pened? " 
 
 327
 
 328 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 She could not immediately answer; but she pres- 
 ently said, " I fell. I was running to you 
 with something with your pistol that was it." 
 She raised herself abruptly, staring about her with 
 blazing eyes. 
 
 "Where are they?" she cried a little weakly. 
 " But how have you I thought I saw you fall ! 
 Oh ! let's not wait another minute ! " 
 
 Her nightmare of fears and horrors had rushed upon 
 her relentlessly with consciousness fully returned. She 
 struggled swiftly to her feet, her aspect one of alarm 
 and apprehensions. 
 
 " We're safe at least from pursuit," he said, 
 glancing far across the field of snow to the place where 
 the nihilists had fallen. " But we'll go at once and try 
 to catch a train." 
 
 With the pistol recovered and placed in his pocket, 
 he threw off the cloak that had served them both and, 
 supporting her arm with the hand left uninjured, con- 
 ducted her back to the car. 
 
 " I shall have to ask you to drive," he said, a grim 
 little smile for a second curving his lips. " My hand is 
 down and out again from my hurry to get it back 
 into use." 
 
 Thurley was glad to take the wheel and start the car 
 in motion. "What happened? " she said, still breath- 
 lessly excited. " How did you manage to escape? Oh ! 
 when I saw them after you I felt the most awful sensa- 
 tions in the world ! " 
 
 He told her a little of the happenings and of how he 
 had wrecked the car. He placed the furs about them 
 both to protect her from the wind. And at last he 
 smiled again.
 
 
 A JOY RESISTED 
 
 " For the third fateful time you drive the car in my 
 place, as I feared you might ; but as neither could 
 have expected." 
 
 She looked at him once more in her wistful way, a 
 way that went straight to his heart. 
 
 " But you do think this is the last of these frights ; 
 that the charm is satisfied?" she asked. "There will 
 be no more like this with accident or horror in it 
 all? " 
 
 " No more," he answered solemnly. " And yet 
 each time has drawn us nearer together." 
 
 The color burned up in her pallid cheeks superbly 
 a flash of the Thurley he had known and must love, 
 though time and space and the greater abyss of hope- 
 less separation attempted to dim its flame. Her eyes 
 met his for a wonderful second and both souls knew 
 the deeps of love wherein they floated alone. 
 
 The words he had spoken when they parted in the 
 road that swift declaration of his loyalty, love, and 
 devotion, echoed anew in her welcoming heart and filled 
 all her pulses with joy. She thrilled to the words he 
 uttered now, his grave recognition that the Fates had 
 drawn their two unwitting selves together, knitting a 
 bond between their deepest spirits with a strength they 
 could not resist. 
 
 Yet even here, after all she had recently endured, she 
 could not forget her word to Alice Van Eirk nor fully 
 accept this wondrous happiness, vouchsafed in the win- 
 try desolation. 
 
 " We have had some extraordinary experiences to- 
 gether," she answered, smiling faintly. " It makes it 
 seem as if we have known each other always." 
 
 Stuyverant had swiftly taken flame. Love bounded
 
 330 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and surged In his veins. He felt that, more than any- 
 one living, he had rights in Thurley's life, and happi- 
 ness, rights that no other could assume. 
 
 " We have known each other always," he said, " as 
 two souls must, when Life and Chance yes, Nature 
 and God have wrought to fulfill such meetings, desti- 
 nies, such comradeship, as ours ! " He placed his 
 hands on hers that grasped the wheel. " Thurley, I 
 told you, back in the road " 
 
 " Oh, please ! " she begged him suddenly, her eyes 
 swiftly brimming with exquisite joy and the need to 
 curb his declaration. " Would you please not tell me 
 anything now I mean just tell me how you 
 came? " 
 
 He felt that he understood, and yet he felt she 
 loved him. Divine conviction of their oneness and 
 their sublimated passion swept like a storm upon his na- 
 ture, beating against the barrier he had felt and dreaded 
 between them. Constraint, uncertainty, even pain and 
 hurt, were swiftly combined with the truths and neces- 
 sities that he feared must still hold them apart. 
 
 Yet if he somewhat sounded the happiness and heart 
 hunger for his love that throbbed in Thurley's bosom, 
 he also felt convinced of her genuine wish to avoid the 
 tender topic and there, as in all else where her wishes 
 lay, he was helpless to act in his own behalf, no matter 
 what the penalty. 
 
 His disappointment burned in his eyes along with the 
 glow of his love. He could not take advantage of the 
 situation that threw her thus helplessly upon his chiv- 
 alry, and his heart, protesting, was dumb. 
 
 " I came because I could not hesitate," he told her 
 simply ; and briefly he recounted all that had happened
 
 A JOY RESISTED 331 
 
 to himself, Alice, and the Baron since the moment the 
 abduction was complete. 
 
 Thurley broke out from time to time with a note of 
 surprise, sympathy, of indignation, when she learned of 
 Pelevin's entire duplicity. Her worry and compassion 
 had their expression when he told her of the long, hard 
 ride with his man and the unseen attack that had laid 
 his chauffeur on the earth. 
 
 " You must send a nurse at once," she declared, when 
 she learned the object of his early morning excursion. 
 " Perhaps you could put me on a train for New York 
 and go back with a nurse in an hour." 
 
 " I shall take you home," he answered. " You have 
 told me nothing of all this atrocious business, how it 
 happened, how you got away." 
 
 She related everything, glad to share the horrors of 
 her days and nights with one who would understand. 
 She shuddered anew over all she had endured in those 
 final hours of escape and flight and struggle with the 
 cold. Her hand went out involuntarily, a second, to 
 grasp the sleeve of his coat, so vivid were the moments 
 lived again, in her imagination. A sacred joy leaped 
 exultantly in his heart at the little sign of her confi- 
 dence ; then her hand returned to the wheel again and 
 the duty of guiding the car. 
 
 It was still fairly early in the morning, with the sun 
 warmly blazing from a cloudless sky at last, when they 
 came to a city on the railroad and learned that a New 
 York limited was due in twenty minutes. They 
 'phoned to Alice, devoured a breakfast of rolls and cof- 
 fee, placed the car in charge of a local garage, and sum- 
 moned a nurse to go at once to Banks, in North Winog. 
 Then they were speeded home, missing the carriage
 
 332 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice had sent to the ferry, where Robley had taken a 
 taxicab at the moment of arriving. 
 
 A white and fluttering fairy godmother, the victim of 
 sudden reactions and relaxings of nervous strain, at 
 last clasped Thurley somewhat hysterically to her bosom 
 and cried for the joy she had felt was gone past all re- 
 calling. Robley was sent to his physician, for needed 
 attention to his wrist ; and the " Princess " was finally 
 sent to bed, where she sank into slumber like a child. 
 
 The chapter of violent occurrences was destined to 
 achieve a fitting close. All North Winog, tremendously 
 shaken by the crime committed at their very doors, had 
 aroused like a congress of Sheriffs. At noon, in the 
 old, abandoned house where Thurley had been prisoned, 
 they came upon a dreadful sight, where Jan and Za- 
 gorsky, still clutching knives, lay, slain by one another. 
 Pelevin and Max had fled. What duel of words, recrim- 
 inations, and passions had preceded the deadly combat 
 waged with steel, no witness was ever to reveal. Mute 
 testimony of the fierce and savage conflict between the 
 man and woman was supplied by everything in and 
 about the room where they had fought. And the hatred 
 of man and distrust of their kind, which alone must 
 actuate the fanatical nihilist, was frozen indelibly upon 
 their features as they lay there, stark and cold.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV 
 
 UNEXPECTED AID 
 
 IT was fully two days before Thurley and Alice were 
 sufficiently recovered to resume their ways of life. 
 That Thurley was not completely prostrated was solely 
 to the credit of her will, her courage, and her magnifi- 
 cently perfect health. 
 
 The news had gone rapidly about the circle that the 
 " Princess " had returned, and for once the daily papers 
 were unaware of the vital facts in the story. No one 
 save Stuyverant, Alice, and the Baron had been authen- 
 tically informed of what had taken place. 
 
 As if all eagerness to regain lost ground and gratify 
 desires and appetites merely whetted by Thurley's ab- 
 sence from the scene, her numerous admiring swains re- 
 doubled their former efforts for her favor. Whole 
 shops full of flowers trooped fragrantly in at the man- 
 sion's doors, rivaled only by white winged invitations 
 to opera parties, cotillions, dinners, receptions, with 
 which all Swelldom inundated Alice and her protegee. 
 
 Baron von Hochhaus, duly informed as to Thurley's 
 safe return, desired to call at the earliest moment ren- 
 dered possible by grave complications of his business. 
 Count Fiaschi was fired with pent-up ardor which could 
 scarcely wait to be conventional or be restrained for an- 
 other hour. His insistence, indeed, roused Thurley to 
 
 333
 
 834 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 a sense of resentment most diverting from her recent 
 terrifying adventures. 
 
 But her one great happiness now was Alice. They 
 two had been knitted to a sweet relationship that was 
 second only to that of mother and daughter. Alice had 
 clung to her just a little wildly, accusing herself of hav- 
 ing made the girl's dread experience possible, and de- 
 claring her frights, her despair, and her love repeatedly. 
 She had hung upon every word and moment of the nar- 
 rative, breathless and white with each succeeding an- 
 guish that Thurley had endured. And she had since 
 become childishly loath to see her " Princess " depart 
 from her sight for so much as a moment. 
 
 This was the partially restored condition of affairs 
 at the great Fifth Avenue palace when Acton Gaillard, 
 driven to final desperation, telephoned to Thurley on 
 Wednesday afternoon for a private interview. 
 
 " I have something important to say, to request," he 
 told her, his voice harsh and hoarse on the wire. " It 
 is nothing for myself, but something concerning a cer- 
 tain man who has thrust his attentions upon you a 
 certain Count. I beg you to let me come." 
 
 Thurley had told him to come. He arrived at four, 
 a haggard, nerveless being, as remotely related to the 
 Gaillard she had known as a dried and frozen rill is re- 
 lated to the boisterous and arrogant brook of the 
 spring. 
 
 She was shocked at his appearance, unaware either 
 that Fiaschi had driven him finally to the blackest rim 
 of ruin, or that matters of money could so undermine 
 and sap a strong man's strength. 
 
 " I haven't much to tell you, after all," he said, with 
 a sickly sort of smile, when the mere conventions of
 
 UNEXPECTED AID 335 
 
 their meeting had been satisfied ; " but I felt I must beg 
 this chance of warning you that Count Fiaschi is an 
 utterly unscrupulous cur, with whom to associate is a 
 degradation. I have known him a year. I have no 
 wish to gabble of his shameless liaisons, his abominable 
 affairs on the Continent, his glaring duplicities, or a 
 score of transactions barely less than crimes ; but I 
 couldn't rest till I let you know a little of what he is. 
 I have really come for that and also to implore you, 
 in the name of everything decent and American, to 
 expel this charlatan, this leech and dog, from your, 
 circle." 
 
 Thurley, already sufficiently informed as to Count 
 Fiaschi's detestable characteristics, was nevertheless a 
 little curious to know what Gaillard meant and what he 
 might also know. " Your indictment is very positive," 
 she said. " You must be prepared to prove a case 
 against him." 
 
 " I could prove a hundred with a little time," an- 
 swered Gaillard emphatically. " I have made no prep- 
 arations for any such exposure. It was neither my way 
 nor my duty. He has been my business partner. He 
 has used my confidence for my ruin. He has beaten 
 me, ruined me, working on my business word and honor, 
 all in his effort to thrust me aside from his path to you ! 
 It is not for that I am here, however, smirching the 
 man behind his back. I can take my beating, the 
 wreckage, everything, if only I can be assured that 
 through it he shall not triumph here ! And understand 
 I have realized at last my own mistakes of the past and 
 the place where I put myself ; but I almost feel I could 
 murder this whelp if he also blinded you ! " 
 
 His emotions were tremendous. They shook him as
 
 336 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 if they were the masters. In his pale, livid face only 
 his two eyes seemed alive, burning with the concen- 
 trated intensity of all his angered being. 
 
 Thurley gazed at him astonished. She had no 
 thought of Fiaschi now as an element of menace in her 
 life ; she thought of him only as a monster in whose ten- 
 tacles the man before her appeared to be strangely 
 helpless. She felt Gaillard's helplessness, his surrender 
 in some mighty struggle, doubtless waged with all his 
 stubborn strength against some unseen treachery he 
 was powerless to meet. 
 
 Her resentment against Fiaschi, already vigorous and 
 impatient, was like a mental fulminate, requiring only 
 a spark to flash out a shattering explosion. 
 
 " Do you think," she said, with simulated calm she 
 was far from feeling, " that the Count has dealt un- 
 fairly with you for the purpose, for any reason at all 
 concerned with me? " 
 
 " To put me out of the running ! " Gaillard an- 
 swered hotly. " That's the part I couldn't stand. 
 When a man is my partner and does a thing like that, 
 I'd do almost anything to snatch away the prize he 
 thinks he has won ! " 
 
 Thurley's eyes blazed and steadied as she looked 
 upon Gaillard's face. " Would you mind just telling 
 me a little of how he has beaten you in business? " 
 
 Gaillard failed to understand. He expected that 
 Thurley, at the end, would attempt a defense of the 
 Count. Perhaps for that reason he made more clear, 
 more naked and complete, the revelations hotly poured 
 from his lips. He told of his first discoveries that 
 Fiaschi, supposed to be his friend as well as business as- 
 sociate and partner in their enterprise, had begun to
 
 UNEXPECTED AID 337 
 
 undermine his credit. He added item after item of the 
 Count's intrigues and hidden maneuvers to compass his 
 absolute ruin. 
 
 " I fought all last week, when I thought I was 
 done," he added in conclusion, rising to pace the floor 
 and halting to mark his point, " and I made another 
 loan. It was all I could get. I thought it would tide 
 me over. Now he has engineered the final coup, in buy- 
 ing up some notes of mine of course through a 
 friend and insisting on payments that cannot be 
 made, and so I rise to take the gaff." His smile was 
 a ghastly, mirthless attempt, such as one would expect 
 on the lips of a warrior, who, about to die, salutes great 
 Caesar on his throne. He added, " I suppose ' he who 
 takes up the Street must perish by the Street * ; but 
 partners should be square ! " 
 
 Thurley was stirred to the depths of her womanly 
 nature. Gaillard, she knew, had " confessed " his fail- 
 ure in the fight he had waged with a species of relief, 
 as to one who had once been something more than just 
 a social acquaintance. She felt, indeed, that she was 
 the only one to whom it could have been told. And 
 therein she was right. She controlled her one great 
 impulse by a splendid effort of will ; but her course was 
 as clear as the wind, 
 
 "When must it end?" she inquired. "When must 
 you meet your obligations or go under?" 
 
 " To-morrow afternoon." 
 
 " And how much woney would it need to pay I 
 mean to win to win ? " 
 
 He smiled again and shook his head. " Nearly 
 twenty-five thousand dollars." 
 
 Her excitement grew intense. The color flamed up-
 
 338 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 ward in her cheeks superbly. " Then thirty thousand 
 would make it absolutely certain?" 
 
 " Absolutely. However, I might as well wish for 
 thirty millions. But why " 
 
 " I wish to let you have it ! " she interrupted fever- 
 ishly, her eyes ablaze with the prospect of Fiaschi's de- 
 feat. " Please don't ask me why to-day ; but say that 
 you'll take it and win ! " 
 
 Gaillard stared. "You wish me to beat Fiaschi? " 
 
 " More than anything in all the You'll take 
 it? You'll let me help? " 
 
 " But if I should lose, after all, be a year or more re- 
 paying " 
 
 " You mustn't lose ! You shan't ! You're too Amer- 
 ican ! Will you take the money and come out on 
 top in the end? " 
 
 " I will, by Heaven ! " he answered, a surge of color 
 leaping for the first time to his face. " Thurley " 
 
 " Please, nothing but your consent," she interrupted. 
 " I'll go at once and get the check." 
 
 And presently Gaillard left the house, the bit of 
 paper in his pocket and wonder and fire in his soul. It 
 was strange that even in his humbled mood, he could 
 not understand. He was certain a spark of her for- 
 mer love had ignited Thurley's heart. 
 
 Thurley, on her part, as thoroughly convinced that 
 her action would be instantly comprehended, went to 
 Alice radiantly excited. " He's gone," she said. " I 
 don't suppose you saw him pale as a pan of dough 
 and frightfully nervous. I have lent him thirty 
 thousand dollars." 
 
 Alice suppressed a gasp, but looked at her, stunned 
 with amazement. She merely said, " Acton Gaillard? "
 
 UNEXPECTED AID 339 
 
 Thurley realized abruptly that the shock to Alice 
 was staggering, though the reason escaped her intui- 
 tions. "Why, yes, I Do you very much mind?" 
 she asked her anxiously. " I guess I did it before I 
 realized that the money " 
 
 " The money was yours, to dispose of as you 
 please," Alice interrupted, smiling peculiarly. " Do 
 you feel like a drive to Mrs. Ashley Duane's? Lady 
 Calthorp has something important to communicate 
 and hoped we'd come this afternoon." 
 
 " Why, yes," said Thurley, a little afraid she had 
 overstepped the mark at last and sacrificed the confi- 
 dence that Alice had heretofore reposed in all her words 
 and actions. " Have I done something very wrong or 
 foolish?" 
 
 " Certainly not," said Alice, almost reassuringly ; 
 " but may I ask if Acton requested such a loan? " 
 
 " Oh, not in the least ! " said Thurley sturdily. " It 
 surprised him as much as as it seems to astonish 
 you." 
 
 Alice kissed her, to dispel a line of worry on her brow. 
 
 " Then perhaps he's as fortunate as I, dear child ; 
 so go and be dressed, in a hurry." 
 
 Thurley went off to her own boudoir, much puzzled 
 in her mind.
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 
 A DROVE OF LIONS 
 
 THE elements essential to a logical climax of the inno- 
 cent " royal " diversion that Alice Van Kirk had per- 
 mitted, with Thurley as the central figure, were swiftly 
 gathering when, on Friday afternoon, two widely op- 
 posed individuals made their appearance at the Fifth 
 Avenue mansion. 
 
 One of the visitors was Robley Stuyverant; the 
 other was Pelevin. Each had purposely chosen a mo- 
 ment of Thurley's absence from the " palace " the bet- 
 ter to further his ends. 
 
 Pelevin came in the guise of a servant, seeking em- 
 ployment as footman. He made his application in the 
 region below stairs, where such an incident, though de- 
 cidedly unusual, excited no particular interest and cer- 
 tainly no disquietude. His desires were immediately 
 communicated to the mistress of the house, who 
 promptly, but in a spirit of kindness, replied that her 
 retinue afforded no vacancies, wherefore she regretted 
 her inability to accomodate another servant. 
 
 Pelevin, as a matter of fact, had expected some such 
 reply. During the few close packed minutes of his 
 stay, however, he had managed to acquire a number of 
 important facts concerning the plan of the house, the 
 number of its servants, their duties, and a little of the 
 ways of life of those who resided above. When he 
 presently departed he was singularly undepressed for 
 
 340
 
 A DROVE OF LIONS 341 
 
 one whose desires for employment had met with so little 
 encouragement. Even the servants to whom he had 
 spoken were a trifle suspicious of his manner; but his 
 visit was soon forgotten. 
 
 Stuyverant, bent on a mission as vital to himself as 
 that which brought Pelevin, seemed to Alice a trifle con- 
 strained when he entered the room where she was sit- 
 ting. It was her own retreat, the room in which she 
 had always received him before, an apartment where 
 the very atmosphere was charged with discussions of 
 Thurley. It was destined to be charged anew to-day. 
 
 " Well, Robley," said Alice, once more restored to her 
 lighter, more jovial mood, " you appear as chipper and 
 gay as a clam. Has someone died and left you another 
 fortune ? " 
 
 Stuyverant attempted to smile ; but its failure verged 
 on the tragic. " I'm all right," he asserted, but with- 
 out convincing emphasis. " I just dropped in to ask 
 if by any chance you or Miss Thurley may have re- 
 ceived a letter addressed to me intended for me, 
 would be more accurate and perhaps directed 
 wrongly by mistake? " 
 
 " Why, yes," said Alice. " Thurley brought me 
 some such epistle this morning, and we sent it at once 
 to your address ; at least, it was posted by noon. Why? 
 Was it anything unduly important ? " 
 
 " I must ask you what comprised its text? " 
 
 " Oh, it was just a sort of business announcement, I 
 should say ; something about some bonds ; a special 
 concession from the Paris Bourse, if I remember cor- 
 rectly. It merely directed your attention to the fact 
 that investments were now made possible in some sort 
 of continental bonds."
 
 842 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Did it come from the office of Acton Gaillard ? " 
 His gravity impressed her inescapably. 
 
 " Why, yes. We rather wondered, of course. I 
 felt convinced that some blunder of mixing en- 
 velopes Perhaps you received some other note, or 
 letter, addressed to Thurley." 
 
 " I did," said Stuyverant, his face peculiarly drawn. 
 " I have brought it with me, thinking it might be of 
 value." 
 
 He drew an envelope from his pocket, removed a 
 folded sheet of writing linen, and placed it in Alice's 
 hand. She took it with a sense of the ominous impend- 
 ing. 
 
 It was the briefest bit of scrawl: 
 
 DEAR THURLEY. Just a formal receipt, acknowledging 
 the loan of your thirty thousand dollars. You must let me 
 come Friday night, as per my earlier request. With love, 
 
 ACTON. 
 
 Alice read it at a glance, and the color mounted 
 swiftly to her face. A more provoking accident she 
 could scarcely imagine occurring at this particular 
 time. She looked up presently and met a somewhat 
 stern and chilling gaze from Robley's blue-gray eyes. 
 There seemed to be nothing adequate to say, and noth- 
 ing to do. She tried a smile. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "It's true?" he said. "She has made him this 
 loan?" 
 
 Alice arched her brows. " My dear Robley, isn't 
 that rather a matter of her concern alone? " 
 
 He rose and rammed his hands in his pockets. " Ob-
 
 A DROVE OF LIONS 343 
 
 viously. You realize, of course, Alice, that I made this 
 discovery through no fault or prying of my own? " 
 
 " Is it necessary to state that, Robley? " 
 
 His manner altered instantly. " Oh, I I'm hardly 
 responsible for what I may say or do ! This thing has 
 jarred me, that's all." 
 
 She looked out at the window. "Well, it jarred 
 me." 
 
 " You knew about it before? " 
 
 " She told me she had lent him the money." 
 
 " What do you make of it, if I may ask? " 
 
 " I made a wry face over it," said Alice ; " but 
 what is the use? " 
 
 " Then it doesn't make you happy ? " 
 
 " Very few of the world's occurrences seemed de- 
 signed for my particular joy." 
 
 He crossed to another window and stood there, star- 
 ing out at the park. " I admit I've been fool enough 
 to dream dreams," he confessed, after a moment of si- 
 lence. " I could, I believe, have accepted philosophic- 
 ally anything that the needs of a nation, at the hands 
 of this young Grand Duke, anything that political 
 necessity Hadn't you seen any signs of this rela- 
 tionship with Gaillard ? " 
 
 " Perhaps ; but I thought " She did not finish ; 
 but shrugged her shoulders instead. 
 
 " Had he met her before? " 
 
 " So I hear." 
 
 " You weren't consulted first about this loan ? " 
 
 Alice smiled as before, without mirth or special 
 meaning. " My dear Robley, we must neither of us 
 forget that Thurley is of age and the mistress of her 
 own affairs."
 
 344 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Oh, but this Gaillard ! " he exclaimed impatiently. 
 " I suppose he's coming here to-night ? " 
 
 " I believe he is." 
 
 He turned and looked at her squarely, his fine face 
 rechiseled in its lines. " I couldn't have believed it, 
 Alice, if I hadn't had this accidental notice." 
 
 " Accidental? " she echoed. " You don't really think 
 Mr. Gaillard" 
 
 " The mixing of envelopes doesn't often occur in a 
 business man's office without express intent," he an- 
 swered incisively. " Still, I may of course be mis- 
 taken." 
 
 " He couldn't be such a cad," said Alice. " Al- 
 though I might have expected Oh, Robley, let's 
 not attempt to judge, to settle, to do anything about 
 this unfortunate matter here this afternoon. Come and 
 see Thurley for yourself." 
 
 "To-night?" 
 
 " Good heavens, no ! I don't know how we're going 
 to manage Come to-morrow, or Sunday. Come 
 when you're calmer, anyway. It's so easy to make 
 mistakes." 
 
 "Alice, you really wish to encourage me to hope? " 
 
 "To hope for what?" 
 
 " You know how I feel toward your protegee." 
 
 " But I don't know how she feels toward you. And 
 if I did my dear boy, I've about made up my mind 
 that the Fates will have their way, no matter who 
 it pinches. That's all. Now do say good by and 
 go." 
 
 He had barely gone when one of the servants 
 brought her a letter, delivered, he said, by special mes- 
 senger, waiting to take a reply. The letter was di-
 
 A DROVE OF LIONS 345 
 
 rected to Alice. It came from Baron von Hochhaus on 
 affairs of the young Grand Duke. 
 
 Alice read it with amusement of a kind. It was 
 not, however, a humorous epistle. It was practically 
 a warning that the ardent and somewhat unmanage- 
 able young Karl-Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Saxe Hertze 
 and Heimer, desired to honor himself by calling that 
 evening, unless his visit should be inconvenient or un- 
 timely. 
 
 In the midst of the letter's perusal, Thurley re- 
 turned, fresh from a gallop in the park with her groom 
 and a special guardian on whose attendance Alice had 
 insisted. 
 
 Alice called her at once to hear the note, particularly 
 the postscript, which read as follows: 
 
 I am practically powerless to avert this adventure on the 
 part of his Excellency Karl-Wilhelm, and I therefore take 
 this means and occasion to state that Princess Thirvinia, 
 recently discovered, and found to be quite ill, is by the 
 grace of God, so miraculously improved that her immediate 
 return to Europe is contemplated. You will readily under- 
 stand, I am certain, and perhaps even pardon me, if I 
 refer to a former conversation with yourself in which I 
 suggested the service possible to Hertzegotha in a complete 
 discouragement of the Grand Duke by one of the noblest 
 young women it has ever been my pleasure to encounter. 
 May I beg a little further indulgence in behalf of my wor- 
 ried and disordered country? 
 
 Thurley, already acquainted with the outcome of the 
 Baron's former visit, during the time of her own de- 
 spair and anguish, was now amazed to learn of the 
 finding of the actual Princess. She was perhaps also
 
 346 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 a little startled concerning possible results. She en- 
 tirely overlooked the point that appealed to Alice. 
 
 " Does it mean that we that discovery Does 
 it mean very much to us ? " she inquired gravely, look- 
 ing at Alice in her girlishly wistful way. " You can 
 take it as part of the joke? " 
 
 " It isn't that, my dear," said Alice, lightly enough. 
 *' I was thinking how utterly absurd it is for Acton 
 Gaillard, the Count, and now the Duke to insist, as 
 they have, on coming here all in one evening all to- 
 gether or one behind the other, perhaps, for I 
 hardly suppose you'll enter the cage with all your lions 
 in a drove." 
 
 " Oh, he does want to come to-night, of course, 1 ' said 
 Thurley, still distinctly serious. " I had completely 
 forgotten. But Count Fiaschi's to come by eight 
 and be gone in fifteen minutes. Mr. Gaillard arrives 
 at half-past eight and " Her eyes flashed fun and 
 warmth. " Why not let the Duke be last, at nine 
 o'clock? I think I'd like it three within the hour." 
 
 " I thought so, or thought perhaps it might be en- 
 tertaining," answered Alice, aware of the general re- 
 ception planned for the Count, but puzzled still by 
 Thurley's attitude with Gaillard. " Shall I answer 
 nine to-night ? " 
 
 " You may as well," said Thurley. " IVe heard 
 there's a charm in threes." 
 
 How easy it was to remember the things that Rob- 
 ley had declared! How eagerly, gladly, and naturally 
 her thoughts went forth to find him, day and night! 
 How she treasured the flowers that came from his 
 hand, among the houseful constantly arriving! And 
 how often she wished she could tell him things, share
 
 A DROVE OF LIONS 347 
 
 with him all the long day's happenings, in the way that 
 comrades should! 
 
 " Charms in threes ! " repeated Alice. " I should 
 hope there might be some few charms distributed among 
 this oddly assorted trio; but I greatly rejoice that 
 the Count's have all been discovered." 
 
 The Count, as a matter of fact, had been more than 
 discovered recently; he had been a bit exposed, like- 
 wise a bit defeated and was blissfully unaware of 
 either pertinent occurrence. 
 
 Not only had Gaillard rounded on him brilliantly, 
 recouping lost ground with a second burst of skill, in- 
 spired by Thurley's unexpected help and attitude, but 
 the all important intelligence imparted by Lady Honore 
 Calthorp at the tea was of such a nature that Alice 
 was radiant with joy. The hour had come to mete 
 out punishments for things endured under the laws of 
 the social world and Alice was a woman. 
 
 Thurley had drifted far away, on a thought of the 
 young Duke Karl. " Some of his ways are very charm- 
 ing," she said. " I felt that you thought so too." 
 
 Alice, who had spoken of the Count, betrayed new 
 surprise. She felt she should never in the least know 
 Thurley after all. " Why, yes," she agreed. " But 
 there are charms and charms and fortunately no 
 man has them all. Poor little Zora Norton married a 
 very charming creature three years ago. The last 
 time I saw her she looked at me like a Dresden china 
 shepherdess and sweetly lisped, ' Doesn't a woman have 
 to love her husband an awful lot not to hate him ut- 
 terly? ' I've thought of it often since." 
 
 " But," said Thurley, " aren't you glad you're mar- 
 ried? "
 
 348 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Alice smiled. " My dear, I like the changes of cli- 
 mate. I'm hardy enough to endure them, and they 
 make me hardier for more. Now I think you'd better 
 rest awhile, for your three in tandem to-night." 
 
 Thurley felt a great excitement instantly assert it- 
 self, so much did the meetings presage. " I'll rest if 
 I can," she answered, and went to the care of her maids.
 
 CHAPTER XLVI 
 
 ANSWERING THE COUNT 
 
 THURLEY did not rest ; her brain was too alive and the 
 fever too active in her pulses. Mysterious arrivals, 
 plus an air of hurry and excitement, pervaded all the 
 house. She suffered herself to be dressed for dinner in 
 a dainty gown that, with its softness and its frailty, 
 completely belied the strength, the courage, and the 
 resolution with which she was amply endowed. 
 
 Major Phipps appeared in time for dinner. He was 
 if possible, more tanned, more explosive, and more 
 hearty than ever before. His admiration for Thurley 
 was likewise more pronounced. He bragged of her dis- 
 covery quite immodestly, taking such mountains of 
 credit to himself that Alice was thoroughly shadowed. 
 
 " The one truly noteworthy and creditable achieve- 
 ment of my career, by George ! " he asserted. " Re- 
 establishes my mental acumen. It does, sir! I've 
 said so repeatedly. But by the gods of battle! that 
 satisfaction is nothing as compared with the fatherly 
 affection engendered in my breast fatherly and 
 brotherly and uncleish and and " 
 
 " Angelic," Alice supplied dryly. " It's very beauti- 
 ful and touching. But will you kindly indicate whether 
 or not you will have some peas, thereby providing a 
 moment for Thurley's blushes to subside? " 
 
 Thurley's color, however, was destined for the brief- 
 
 349
 
 350 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 est subsidence. The Major kept it flaming pleasurably 
 for an hour, both during and after dinner; and eight 
 o'clock romped in upon them all, it seemed quite pre- 
 maturely, to ignite it again. 
 
 Alice herself was nervously perturbed and a trifle 
 feverish, when one of the servants came to announce 
 the arrival of Count Fiaschi. 
 
 The Major excused himself in haste and promptly 
 disappeared. 
 
 Alice, in one of her motherly moods, came swiftly to 
 her " Princess " and placed both hands on her shoulders. 
 " Because he happened to demand that he see you alone 
 is no reason why Fiaschi should be gratified, unless you 
 wish it," she said. " I feel as if perhaps it might be 
 much easier if I remained with you as chaperon all the 
 time he is here." 
 
 "If the horrid creature should attempt what he did 
 before Thurley halted, vividly remembering the 
 kiss that Fiaschi had dared to misappropriate. " Of 
 course he wouldn't if you were there. And yet if he's 
 here to demand Perhaps the way we have planned 
 it is the best, after all. You're sure that she that 
 everything is ready? " 
 
 "Leave that to me," said Alice, a little pale, but 
 smiling. " I'll go with you now and excuse myself at 
 once." 
 
 They went together to the golden room where the 
 Count was impatiently waiting. 
 
 He was flushed with a sense of victory over Gaillard 
 and his own irresistible prowess with the women. He 
 had sent great masses of roses earlier and was certain 
 now that the single American beauty worn on Thurley's 
 bosom was selected from his offering. He could never
 
 ANSWERING THE COUNT 351 
 
 have dreamed it was Stuyverant's rose, worn as a to- 
 ken of their comradeship, and also as a talisman to 
 guard her heart from evil. 
 
 To do him credit for mere physical appearance, the 
 Count had never been handsomer in his life. His 
 glossy black hair, his damask skin, and his long lashed 
 eyes, which burned like molten garnets, dashed with 
 liquid whirls of brown and ebony, were practically 
 physical perfection. Only his mouth, over-red and sen- 
 suous, supplied a hint of the animal crouched behind 
 his mask. 
 
 He wasted no energy in passing the time of day. 
 " Ah ! the banishment of all the little fidgeting world ! " 
 he exclaimed in immediate rapture, as Thurley and 
 Alice advanced to give him formal greeting. " By the 
 vision of yourself I am transported yes, as on the 
 wings of ecstasy that for the highest exaltations shall 
 exist ! " and he took Thurley 's hand to raise it toward 
 his lips, almost ignoring Alice, to whom he should have 
 first addressed himself. 
 
 Thurley smiled conventionally, withdrawing her hand 
 with a firm slow gesture at once reserved and vigor- 
 ous. " How interesting if visions took the place of 
 aeroplanes ! " she answered lightly. " It is said the 
 transportation business is very profitable." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Fiaschi. " Madam Van Kirk, I am 
 charmed likewise at this encounter, yes ! " 
 
 "Only charmed?" said Alice, arching her brows. 
 " Not one little flight when you see me? Perhaps you 
 wish to surprise me later? " 
 
 Thurley felt her heart give a knock at the hidden 
 suggestion. 
 
 "Ah!" said the Count. "It is not a fault to be
 
 352 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 :--,. ~- f\ 
 
 blind it is one affliction. Shall I not be blind when 
 I thus behold Miss Thurley?" 
 
 To give him due credit once again, Thurley was 
 matchless, brilliantly, bewilderingly beautiful, the ani- 
 mation of suppressed excitement, plus the fire of resent- 
 ment, outblazing jewel marvels in her eyes, her color 
 and her pulses vibrant with life reduced to sheer loveli- 
 ness and magnetism. Never had prettier patrician 
 grace enthroned itself in her carriage. Her golden 
 hair was such a coronet as regal simplicity might 
 choose for its dainty queen. Her arms and her shoul- 
 ders were superb. Ariel, Titania, Diana, the exquisite 
 beings and goddesses of all the ages, might have be- 
 queathed her a tithe apiece of their own loveliness to 
 make her the Princess she was. 
 
 "Blind?" said Alice. "I have often wondered if 
 love is so blind that a married man cannot see another 
 pretty woman." 
 
 If the Count changed color for a second, he instantly 
 laughed it away. " Ah! this American wit! " said he. 
 " The rapier is not more quick, more certain." He was 
 ill at ease with Alice in the room ; but concealed his im- 
 patience with some degree of art. 
 
 " Well," said Alice, shrugging her shoulders, " since 
 I am not seen, perhaps I may be excused for a moment, 
 by your leave." 
 
 Fiaschi made little concealment of his pleasure, thus 
 to be left alone with Thurley. No sooner was Alice 
 gone than he strode hot-paced to where the " Princess " 
 had taken a seat. 
 
 She rose at once, not to be taken at the slightest 
 disadvantage. 
 
 " For this moment I have lived and could have
 
 ANSWERING THE COUNT 353 
 
 died ! " he breathed with suddenly liberated fervor, once 
 more catching up her hand and attempting to press 
 his lips upon it. " If it were only that some word were 
 sufficiently beautiful to name you in, some word 
 more fragrant, more passionate, more enraptured 
 than ' divinity,' ah ! how my soul would leap to 
 its birth to lay it at your feet ! My idol 
 my " 
 
 "Will you not be seated?" Thurley interrupted, 
 her breath coming quickly, her anger rising, as she felt 
 the insult of his words and glances, while his eyes 
 sought to rivet her own. " You mentioned in your 
 note some special reason for an interview." 
 
 "Ah! and you have not guessed? You have not 
 been aware of my soul's desire, my famishing of the 
 spirit, my heart's consuming thirst? I did not suppose 
 even walls, the horrible tumult of this city, anything, 
 could upon it avail to close it out! But I have waited 
 its accomplishment how God alone knows this 
 waiting! But I wished to come with my hands, my 
 arms, brimming with fortune! It is done. I have 
 come to-night " 
 
 " To tell me you have made a fortune? May I offer 
 my congratulations?" 
 
 Thurley was a little fearful of his ardor, fearful of 
 some spring of the animal she felt behind his smile and 
 eyes. She could only hope for the moment to dash his 
 heats with the coldly commonplace. 
 
 As well might she have attempted to dash a Vesuvian 
 eruption. " The fortune, bah ! " said Fiaschi more 
 warmly than before, his hands fairly wrung and per- 
 spiring with impatience to clasp her hotly by the arms 
 and strain her to his lips. " It is a bauble only to drop
 
 354 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 at your feet and forget ! But the love I lavish the 
 adoration " 
 
 " Listen ! " said Thurley, interrupting desperately. 
 " I thought I heard the bell. I must ask your pardon 
 if I presently have to excuse myself. I'm expecting 
 another caller, who is likewise coming on business." 
 
 "Business?" echoed Fiaschi. "Business?" 
 
 Thurley's strength came surging to her aid. 
 " What else could it be you particularly wished to 
 say?" 
 
 The Count was increasingly agitated. " It is not 
 business the mighty demand of the soul ! " he cried 
 to her fervently. " Yet I have tried to ask before, and 
 I ask again a definite answer from your heart 
 your lips ! You are now, already, my soul's one choice 
 my all ! But you will be my wife ? " 
 
 Thurley paled when it came, prepared as she was to 
 hear his declaration and request. Anger and scorn 
 flared quickly in her eyes, despite her efforts at control. 
 " Your answer to that? " she asked him lightly clap- 
 ping her hands* and trembling with surcharged dynam- 
 ics of the moment. " Your answer, Count Fiaschi, 
 is here." 
 
 A door behind him had opened at the signal. He 
 turned like a cat as her glance sped past his shoulder. 
 
 Countess Fiaschi, who had come here once to threaten 
 and if need be to fight for her rights, came haltingly 
 into the room, in front of Alice. She was white as pa- 
 per. She put out her hand to support herself from 
 falling, weakly groping for a chair near by, as her eyes 
 remained fixed on the Count. 
 
 " Volga me Dios! " breathed the suddenly wilted 
 Fiaschi. " Por hamor de Dios y todos los santos! "
 
 ANSWERING THE COUNT 355 
 
 " It is my right to come ! " cried his trembling wife, 
 by way of meeting the blazing anger, shame, and accu- 
 sation flaring in his gaze. " Forgive me, Jose ! It is 
 my love I could not bear to let you go ! " She 
 went down abruptly on her knees at his feet and clasped 
 him wildly by the legs. " God help me if I love you 
 so," she added, " for I was sure I had my love from 
 God!" 
 
 " Oh, Thurley," said Alice quietly, " may I see you 
 for a moment? " 
 
 Thurley turned to the Count, who remained there, 
 livid, and helplessly staring at his wife. " You will 
 excuse me, I am sure, if I say good evening." 
 
 But the Count had been stricken deaf and dumb as 
 well as pallid and blind. He made no reply as Thur- 
 ley and Alice quitted the room and left him fully an- 
 swered. 
 
 Later they heard the closing of the door that led to 
 the outside world. A servant came to announce, in ac- 
 cordance with directions, that the Count and Count- 
 ess were gone. The evening had fairly begun.
 
 CHAPTER XLVII 
 
 A THOROUGHBRED 
 
 GAILLARD had rarely in his life felt more assured, more 
 confident, restored, or at his ease. The man was amaz- 
 ingly transformed. There is no such tonic as victory 
 with a dash of self approval. He had entered on his 
 fight against Fiaschi with a vigor so reinforced and 
 dominant that the Count could scarcely have recog- 
 nized the man he had encountered. He had smashed 
 his way to supremacy in the situation with a power that 
 astonished himself. 
 
 To-night he was firmly on his feet again and 
 looked the part. His skin was clear and ruddy, his 
 eyes were steadied and apparently hardened to a new 
 blued steel species of temper. With composure regained 
 and buoyancy reasserted in his step and carriage, he 
 felt himself once more master of his destiny and able 
 to cope with the world. 
 
 Thurley was honestly glad to behold a change so 
 complete and unexpected. She had once felt untold 
 admiration for the qualities crystallized in Gaillard's 
 composition. A slight recurrence of her oldtime appre- 
 ciation of his better self stirred in her being to-night. 
 She knew he had beaten Fiaschi, and for that she re- 
 joiced as a friend. 
 
 " You see I couldn't wait, in my wish to tell it all in 
 person," he explained, holding her hands as she faced 
 him there alone. " I wanted to come and acknowledge 
 
 356
 
 A THOROUGHBRED 557 
 
 frankly that you saved the situation. I wanted to 
 know that you are glad, as I see you are, in your eyes." 
 
 " It gratifies me very much," she told him sincerely. 
 "If I helped a little, I rejoice." She withdrew her 
 hands and asked him to find himself a seat. 
 
 He drew a chair close to hers and leaned familiarly 
 forward, reaching to take her hand again where she 
 leaned on a golden stand. 
 
 With a motion apparently slow and unintentioned, 
 she placed the hand in her lap. 
 
 " Thurley," he said, in the modulated tone she had 
 once responded to with thrills, " you're a noble little 
 girl, the finest little woman I have known in all the 
 world." 
 
 " Thank you," she answered lightly. " We are both 
 still rather young." 
 
 He was not to be diverted from his purpose. He 
 seemed almost not to have heard her reply. " You 
 know I told you, once upon a time, there was no one 
 like you, Thurley. I told you that you were a thor- 
 oughbred. Remember?" 
 
 Thurley grew more self-possessed. " I recall 
 some could it have been in connection with anything 
 in particular? " 
 
 " Oh, come, little girl, you remember," he said. 
 " I'll face it, take my medicine, everything I deserve. 
 I thought at one time I was doomed for the ax; but 
 thank God your spirit's too big for petty revenge! 
 You are a thoroughbred. I knew it all along. But, 
 heavens ! little Captain of the Tigress, what a wonder- 
 ful relief, what an unthinkable happiness, to get back 
 to our good old chumming again and forget all that's 
 gone between ! "
 
 358 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 This time he caught her hand so swiftly and with a 
 grip so sure that she had neither time nor strength to 
 escape. 
 
 " You are hurting my fingers," she told him, un- 
 moved by his speech. " Please sit back in your chair, 
 Mr. Gaillard, and " 
 
 "Mr. Gaillard?" he echoed abruptly. 
 
 She smiled and arched her brows. " What else 
 should I say ? " 
 
 " Do you mean to keep this up? " he said. " Come 
 now, Thurley, be yourself. You've punished me 
 enough." 
 
 "Punished you, for what?" 
 
 " You know what I mean. What does a college 
 graduate know of what he wants, or says, or does, at a 
 time like that? You've punished me, Thurley, and 
 you know it." 
 
 "Isn't it just the usual college sort of thing?" 
 She forced a smile which his egotism misinterpreted. 
 
 " You little rogue ! " he answered, doing his best to 
 outmatch her mirth and laugh her mood away. " We 
 cared for each other, as you cannot deny, and that sort 
 of caring lasts. If not, then why your friendship now, 
 when you saw me down and out? " 
 
 " I agree to friendship heartily," she said. " I hon- 
 estly wish " 
 
 " It's more than that, little girl," he interrupted, 
 leaning closer, as before. " Now tell me candidly, like 
 the candid little girl I've always known, why did you 
 fly to my assistance with! thirty thousand dollars?" 
 
 Her face was grave, even pale. She faced him stead- 
 ily. ". In the first place, I very much wished you to 
 beat that man, Count Fiaschi."
 
 A THOROUGHBRED 359 
 
 " Yes, I felt that, of course. I understood all that. 
 But the real reason, Thurley, that's the one I'm after." 
 He was sure of the corner to which she was forced, 
 sure she would not evade, sure she would melt, as in 
 the early days, and tell him what he wished to know, 
 if only with her eyes. 
 
 She did not evade and her eyes were eloquent of 
 truth. " I have been long anxious to repay you for 
 all the flowers and chocolates, the attentions, kind- 
 nesses, and college friendship," she answered in a clear, 
 low voice that surprised herself, so violent was the beat- 
 ing of her heart. " I have wished to even up the fa- 
 vors, and show you the sort of friendship I learned was 
 all I should ever have expected, there at home. I 
 wished to preserve the friendly feeling you have always 
 entertained. I hope I have and I hope you under- 
 stand." 
 
 He could not fail to understand, with a glaring vivid- 
 ness that left him stunned and dazed. He was placed 
 under lifelong obligations and cast to the outer 
 regions where a formal, half-cold friendship was all he 
 could ever expect. The dominant power, once his and 
 neglected, had melted into air and gone forever. The 
 sense of it all crept through and over him with the 
 tangible effect of a tide, chilling his being through and 
 through. He was silent for a moment, staring at her 
 fixedly. When he spoke his voice had changed. 
 
 "You mean that, Thurley? That's your final 
 word?" 
 
 She met his gaze unflinchingly. " You asked me to 
 be candid. I have taken you at your word." She 
 marveled at the ease with which she answered. 
 
 A reactionary passion rose for a final beating against
 
 360 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 the barriers within him. The old self, yet to be out- 
 grown, once more took possession of his mood. He 
 rose in his heat. " By Heaven," he said, " if I'd known 
 of this I'd never have taken your help, your money, 
 anything ! You haven't the right You'd better be 
 careful, Thurley, how you play with a man like this! 
 Your position here, this masquerade " 
 
 " Don't threaten again to divulge it, please for 
 your own sake ! " she interrupted. " It would be so 
 useless, after what I have planned for myself. It 
 would rob me so utterly of all I have remaining of the 
 Acton Gaillard I'm sure I used to know." 
 
 " You've tricked me ! " he said less truculently. 
 " You are living a trick ! Your head has been turned ! 
 You seem to think Oh, Thurley, I don't mean all 
 this madness ! I'm not an absolute cad ! But this 
 thing hits me when I was sure when I thought 
 you'd forgiven Forget what I've said ! Tell me 
 you didn't mean it. I want to be friends, be all I ever 
 was and more ! I want a chance to prove I'm a bet- 
 ter friend than you think. I've confessed my blunder 
 made at college. Let's be friends again and begin all 
 over, 1 where we were " 
 
 Thurley too had risen. She had never felt more 
 distant from him, more ostracized by all that he said 
 and did, nor yet more sorry or helpless. She looked at 
 him a little wistfully, poignantly affected by it all. 
 " I want your friendship, believe me," she said. " I 
 want it very much, and to give you mine the most 
 that I can offer." 
 
 Something occurred, deep down in his nature, to alter 
 his view of himself. His face was twitching with the 
 struggle of his better entity to force itself to the top.
 
 A THOROUGHBRED 361 
 
 " All you can offer," he said peculiarly, as much to 
 himself as to Thurley, and he nodded his head with a 
 grim, if belated, comprehension of what it implied. " I 
 have made a fool of myself ! " A ghastly sort of smile 
 played for a moment over his features. " Will you 
 shake hands, Thurley, for good by? Will you let me 
 tell you again, in a different way you are a thor- 
 oughbred? " 
 
 She gave him her hand, which he gripped as he might 
 have clasped a man's. " You're more than that," he 
 added huskily. " You're a Princess, if ever one 
 lived ! " He sounded the light in her frank brown eyes, 
 finding there nothing but the truth. " Good by," he 
 murmured, " God keep you as you are ! " 
 
 And Thurley sat down when the door had closed, 
 wondering at it all. She was there when Alice en- 
 tered, excited by new events. 
 
 " The Duke has been here for nearly fifteen min- 
 utes ! " she said. " And now here's the Baron and 
 Wenck!" 
 
 " I know," said the Princess, smiling faintly. " I 
 wrote and asked them to come." 
 
 "Good Lord," said Alice. "Talk about the 
 Sphinx! I just saw number two go out Acton, of 
 course and looking more as if he had found himself 
 than I think I somehow expected." 
 
 "Oh, I'm glad!" said Thurley honestly. "That 
 makes me very happy ! " 
 
 Alice looked her disconcerted puzzlement. After 
 all her hopes she was nearly convinced that Gaillard 
 still possessed the girl's real heart, in spite of all that 
 had happened. 
 
 " The Duke is wearing out his shoes, his pockets,
 
 362 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 and his intellect," she stated in her customary spirit. 
 " Will you have him in with his tamer, or alone? " 
 
 Thurley smiled a little wearily. " He probably pre- 
 fers to come alone, like all the others." 
 
 " You poor, dear child ! " said Alice, and kissed her 
 in sympathy and love.
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII 
 
 A CLIMAX 
 
 THE something boyishly honest in the Duke a 
 charming quality that Thurley had previously en- 
 joyed beset her now as she faced him candidly, re- 
 solved to win him to the plan that she felt would make 
 for the happiness of all. He was dressed as Colonel of 
 the Baron's Regiment von Seydlitz, and was splendid 
 and good to see. She found the matter difficult, in the 
 light of his repeated protestations that he would not 
 return to Hertzegotha without her and that Kingdoms 
 were hateful in his sight. 
 
 " You see you haven't been fair," she said, smiling 
 to take away the sting. " When you knew I was not 
 the Princess, but the merest no-one in America, you 
 treated me quite as if you had never met your fiancee 
 and were ready to let me think you thought me she. 
 You'll admit to me now that you knew it all from the 
 first? " 
 
 He nodded. " And that I was your slave also, from 
 the first." 
 
 She laughed at his gravity. " But nobody wants a 
 little cheat." 
 
 "It is true; yet everybody wants a little Princess." 
 
 "But I'm not!" 
 
 " But you are ! " 
 
 " Oh, we're wasting such a lot of time ! " she de- 
 clared. " I just know you're ashamed of the way you 
 
 363
 
 864 THUKLEY RUXTON 
 
 are treating Princess Thirvinia! I know that deep in 
 your heart of hearts your sense of duty to your coun- 
 try cries out as love could never cry, that you know 
 you must go, and you wish to go and take the 
 Princess with you as your bride! I shouldn't like you 
 in the least if you were any other way. And you want 
 me to like you a little? " 
 
 " Oh, god of love ! " he answered, as only a tragic 
 youth may answer. " But surely you can like me a 
 little for myself? " 
 
 She was very much in earnest. " Not a particle if 
 you abandon your affianced Princess, your distracted 
 Kingdom, or the nobler self I wish so much to admire." 
 
 " But when I love you " he protested. " Is that 
 nothing? " 
 
 " No," she laughed, " it's a nuisance to everyone 
 but me. But the love of a man who deserts his country 
 and his honor Oh ! " 
 
 His sense of shame, only a little narcotized by the 
 brilliance and appeal of her beauty, struggled in his 
 heart. " But Princess I am helpless," he de- 
 clared. " What can I do? " 
 
 " Shake hands and say good by," she answered read- 
 ily. " Promise you'll make your genuine Princess 
 happy, and serve your land, and let me call the Baron 
 here and tell him how greatly I admire you." 
 
 " The Baron? " he echoed. " He is not here? " 
 
 " Of course," said Thurley. " I wrote him to come. 
 I'll ask him now " 
 
 Her sentence was never completed. 
 
 A glare of blinding light that penetrated the win- 
 dow's thickest curtains flashed from without, in the 
 snow-bound park. A terrifying detonation, shatter-
 
 365 
 
 ing glass and rocking the house, instantly followed, 
 with a jar and a shock as if of some world disaster. 
 Shrieks and screams from the avenue, someone's cry 
 witihin the building, and a heterogeneous medley of 
 alarms arose on the second of lull that followed the 
 thud and impact of the explosion. 
 
 Then the door was flung open and Alice was there, 
 wild eyed and gasping, horrified by the dreadful things 
 she had fully expected to discover in the room where 
 Thurley had been left. 
 
 " Deary ! " she cried. " Thank God ! I thought " 
 
 " Karl ! " cried the voice of the Baron at her heels, 
 and, he ran in after Alice, as certain as she that here 
 in this room a dynamite bomb had been fired. 
 
 "What was it?" cried Thurley, abruptly pos- 
 sessed of a dread that seemed to cast her back 
 to her recent frights and perils. " What has hap- 
 pened ? " 
 
 " Oh, I thought I should die before I could reach the 
 door ! " said Alice, pale and fearfully shaken. " It 
 must have been out in the street ! " 
 
 The Baron had hastened at once to a window. 
 Wenck had been instantly ordered outside to see what 
 might be done. 
 
 " Ah, in the park ! " said Hochhaus, enormously re- 
 lieved, and the others hastened to see. 
 
 A crowd had gathered in the street below with 
 promptness truly amazing. A swarming, excited mass 
 of beings it was, with men swiftly running from all di- 
 rections and cabs, automobiles and 'busses congregat- 
 ing in the dark, congested throng. 
 
 It was all half-lighted only, by the street lamps 
 gleaming through the trees. In the snow of the park
 
 366 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 the congress had its center, and Wenck, escaping from 
 the turgid eddy of beings, came hastening back to 
 report. 
 
 " Pelevin ! " he said to his chief at once, and Thur- 
 ley nearly sank where she stood. 
 
 Someway, the creature, with a gas-pipe engine of 
 death and destruction in his hand, had exploded his 
 horrible implement prematurely, there at the wall of 
 the frozen park, on his way to cross the avenue and en- 
 ter Alice's basement. 
 
 The Duke was gray as ashes. " My God ! what I 
 should bring on this house ! " he said, and Thurley, 
 dimly hearing, understood. 
 
 They) were spared a detailed account of the mangled 
 form across the crowded thoroughfare; but of fright 
 they could not be relieved. The Baron, the Duke, and 
 Wenck at length departed, Karl-Wilhelm matured in 
 his manhood and resolution suddenly, by the shock to 
 his nerves and his heart. 
 
 He took the time for one long look of gravity into 
 Thurley *s eyes, while her fearless gaze met his own. 
 " You had already taught me my duty, believe me," 
 he said, his face strangely hardened to that of a man. 
 " I trust I shall always merit a little of your admira- 
 tion Princess Thurley." He raised her hand to his 
 lips, kissed it reverently, and retreated backward from 
 the room. 
 
 Late that night, when Thurley looked down on the 
 avenue and park, at last once more deserted, only a 
 great gaping orifice, where snow and earth and rock 
 had been, marked the spot of Pelevin's last venture. 
 Then Alice came in, still white and quaking, dressed 
 for retiring, but too disturbed for bed.
 
 A CLIMAX S67 
 
 " Dear child, dear child ! " she said as she came and 
 took her " Princess " in her arms. " No more of my 
 ' innocent ' game. I release you from every single 
 promise ! " 
 
 Thurley looked at her unwinkingly, afraid it meant 
 that, the game being done, she was due to be dismissed 
 and return whence she had come. 
 
 " No more? " she said. " You won't need me any 
 longer? " 
 
 "For Heaven's sake, Deary, what do you mean?" 
 demanded Alice, equally disturbed. " Need you? I 
 never needed anyone so much in all my life! I simply 
 intended to release you from all the foolish agreements 
 I exacted. I realize the dangers I have plunged you 
 in. I realize how selfish I should be, after all you've 
 undergone, to deny you the slightest speck of happi- 
 ness. That's all. If you wish to marry Acton Gail- 
 lard " 
 
 " Alice ! " cried Thurley, all but ready to laugh, de- 
 spite the tragic outcome of the evening. " Marry 
 Acton Gaillard ! " 
 
 " You lent him your money, and " 
 
 " Oh, I'll get it all back and return it to you gladly," 
 interrupted Thurley, who had troubled her mind with- 
 out respite over all the things she had done. " I 
 didn't realize it was not really mine to give. I wanted 
 him to beat the Count and he did ! I acted impul- 
 sively, of course, I know; but I'll surely restore every 
 cent I used and " 
 
 " Thurley Ruxton, what are you talking about, you 
 silly little thing? " demanded Alice, unable to let her 
 continue further. " That money was just as much 
 yours as the hair of your head. You ought to be
 
 368 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 spanked 1 to treat me so ! " But with tears in her eyes 
 she clasped the girl against her breast and strained her 
 there with all her strength. " You know that I love 
 you. You know I approve of every single thing you've 
 done at last ! If you wish to marry Mr. Gaillard, 
 I know that someway he must be splendid ! " 
 
 "But I don't," objected Thurley. "I don't see 
 why you ever thought I could ! " 
 
 Alice pushed herself away and looked her squarely 
 in the 1 eyes. " I'm a kitten under nine days old," she 
 said. " Maybe you'd rather not marry anyone at all." 
 
 Thurley suddenly crimsoned; but the light in her 
 eyes increased. " I admit it would have been awfully 
 sweet to let Robley ask me, riding that morning in the 
 snow," she said ; " but I wanted to keep the promise 
 made to you." 
 
 Alice's eyes were abruptly brimming. " You poor 
 dear, darling little girl ! " she said, attempting to 
 laugh, but achieving something nearer to a sob. " Let 
 me call him up on the 'phone."
 
 CHAPTER XLIX 
 
 A TRYSTING PLACE 
 
 THE telephone was not disturbed that night. A mere 
 metal wire has frequently warmed and tingled at the 
 voice of Cupid, speeding down its length; but Thurley 
 had plans that were all her own, as well as a number 
 of things to say, that took no account of instruments 
 that render distance between the principals obligatory. 
 
 Sometime late that Friday night Gotham weather 
 changed. A warm wind, drifting a tropical tempera- 
 ture from Tampa to the bleakness of New England, 
 wrapped all the world of Manhattan in its voluptuous 
 embrace and melted the snow from its bosom. 
 
 The morning broke with crystal clearness, the sun all 
 gold in a turquoise sky, and the summery breeze now 
 languidly puffing at eddying pools of melted snow till 
 they withered and floated away. 
 
 The only mar in all the perfect morning was supplied 
 by the city newspapers. Their accounts of the end of 
 the miserable Pelevin, almost unanimously pronounced 
 a Black Hand agent, whose plot had judicially miscar- 
 ried, served to reawaken fears already sufficiently sleep- 
 less. 
 
 But youth is retentive of joys and hopes where 
 alarms find but temporary lodgment. Thurley was 
 young, and her heart was too full of her own excite- 
 ments to permit large room for dreads. 
 
 She; passed the morning in a constant succession of 
 369
 
 370 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 fevers and doubts concerned alone with Robley Stuy- 
 verant. But leaning on Alice for assistance was enor- 
 mously sustaining; for Alice certainly helped. It was 
 she who telephoned at last to Stuyverant, when the 
 psychological moment had arrived. 
 
 That was at two in the afternoon. 
 
 " Just called you up to relieve your mind and set a 
 misconception straight," she told him cheerily. " That 
 loan, you know, of thirty thousand, to a certain 
 individual. It was the prettiest two-edged stroke 
 I've seen for an age. Yes. It floored a certain 
 Count and paralyzed its recipient like a million 
 volts coming from a hairpin. No, I'll tell you all 
 about it later. Why, I'm trying to inform you deli- 
 cately. She did it because she wanted to squelch them 
 both. Yes, I thought perhaps you'd like to know 
 where to find her. No, she isn't here. I don't know 
 exactly where she is myself. Now listen intently. She 
 said she was going over in the park, to some won- 
 derfully romantic spot where someone broke his wrist 
 one day but for what earthly reason is more than 
 mortal could guess. Now wait! Don't hurry! Rob- 
 ley ! " But there was silence on the wire. 
 
 Thurley, at a little past the hour of two, was seated 
 alone on that particular bench she had one day occu- 
 pied when all the world, though clothed in the splen- 
 dors of its autumn gold and crimson, was a gray and 
 desolate perspective, so far as she could discern its 
 wide expanse. 
 
 To-day the sun obliquely slanted on denuded trees 
 and on grass down beaten and sodden from the recent 
 snow, as well as on roads that, here in the sections of 
 the park unfavored by the pomp and glory of wealth,
 
 A TRYSTING PLACE 871 
 
 were practically deserted. Yet gleams of the world's 
 most refulgent light seemed beckoning on all her far 
 horizon, and, though she still had doubts and tremors, 
 interspersed withi all her hopes, the prospect seemed a 
 verdant field of flowers and rills and song. 
 
 A plump gray squirrel, bright eyed, cozy in his furs, 
 and confident of friendship from the whole human tribe, 
 came inquiringly up to halt at Thurley's feet and beg 
 for alms to crack. He tucked first one, then the other, 
 of his tiny paws in the muff of his little breasts, gazing 
 at her appealingly and flirting the banner of his tail. 
 
 "Hello!" said Thurley. "If I'd only thought to 
 bring a bag of peanuts ! " 
 
 Her hungry little visitor leaped up to the bench, 
 came fearlessly up to walk across her lap, poked his 
 active little nose against the glove on her hand, then 
 leaped again to the earth and weather trampled sod, 
 where he took up a search for hidden treasures. 
 
 Thurley had turned to watch him, when the faint, dis- 
 tant purring of a motor car spun her about on the 
 seat. 
 
 Stuyverant came round the bend, holding the wheel 
 as best he might with a wrist still unequal to the task. 
 
 The color leaped to Thurley's cheeks like rose leaves 
 tossed upward in a zephyr. Then the car was halted 
 and Stuyverant rose to leap out over his extra tires, as 
 he had done on the first occasion. 
 
 " Oh, don't try that ! " cried Thurley, her old impul- 
 sive self immediately uppermost, as she sprang to her 
 feet and ran a little toward the car. " Please don't 
 break anything more ! " 
 
 He laughed, despite the depth of emotions in his 
 breast, alighting quite intact.
 
 372 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 She stood in the road to meet him and gave him her 
 hand, as he came there doffing his cap. 
 
 " You know I don't like threes, exactly," she added, 
 " if it means three injuries, or anything like that." 
 
 " I wonder if you'll ever meet me here again," he an- 
 swered, as they turned to go to her bench. " That's 
 the sort of threes I've hoped for the threes with 
 nothing but charm." 
 
 " But they might not be that kind after 
 all," she faltered, resuming the seat she had occupied. 
 " It's so easy these days for folks to be deceived to 
 deceive themselves and everything." 
 
 He sat beside her and leaned a little forward. His 
 face was inclined to paleness again, his eyes were in- 
 tensely serious. " I think I have deceived myself for 
 the final time concerning some few things at least," 
 he said, referring to his errors of judgment respecting 
 Gaillard and her loan. " I hope to-day may render 
 possible some final understandings." 
 
 His earnestness a little disconcerted the happiness of 
 spirit she had instantly conceived at his coming. She 
 could only infer that he had come upon truths he 
 found not altogether pleasant. " I have never wished 
 to deceive you for a moment," she said. " I made up 
 my mind to tell you everything absolutely every- 
 thing to-day." 
 
 It was Stuyverant's turn to be surprised and puz- 
 zled. " Everything, you mean, about your duties to 
 Hertzegotha ? Wait, please, before you answer. This 
 may, perhaps, be our final little talk together our 
 last sunbright experience, after the Fates had 
 seemed I only wish to say that on the morning 
 when we drove together through the snow I spoke un-
 
 A TRYSTING PLACE 373 
 
 guardedly. The stress of the moment, everything, con- 
 spired to wring that declaration from my lips, and 
 yet " 
 
 Her heart was sinking. " You didn't mean it ? " 
 She tried to smile as the sunlight seemed about to van- 
 ish. 
 
 " I have come here to confess and sue for pardon to- 
 gether," he told her, holding her gaze to his own with 
 ties grown sacred and irresistible. " I love you, Prin- 
 cess, despite my utmost wish or sense of the hopeless 
 plight into which I am plunged. I shall love you al- 
 ways, even though I have no right, even although you 
 bid it cease, for its haunting echo in your after years. 
 I would give my life to serve you. I would almost give 
 it for this moment here ours, all ours, so long as it 
 may last ! And if you find this quite beyond your par- 
 don, nevertheless my love shall live; for none save God 
 could make it die! And yet I hope for your pardon." 
 
 She had closed her eyes and leaned a little back, in 
 the sweetness and marvelous ecstasy she had no power 
 at that moment to deny her heart, which had yearned 
 and ached for his words. 
 
 After a moment of silence and intensity he added. 
 " I am not to be forgiven ? " 
 
 " Oh, don't say that ! " she begged him suddenly. 
 "It is I I who must beg for forgiveness. But I 
 came to tell you all every little thing that I am 
 not a Princess that I am nothing in the world but 
 just " 
 
 " Not a Princess ! " he interrupted suddenly, catch- 
 ing at her hand, which he held with a pressure that hurt 
 and crushed, yet sent mad gladness to her heart. " Not 
 Princess Thirvinia? Not "
 
 374 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 " Oh, no, no, no ! " she cried. " But I never claimed 
 I was! Alice never claimed it! We just let the 
 rumor go. I don't know why we did it. We never 
 realized what dreadful things might happen, what 
 serious consequences " 
 
 "Thurley! Thurley! Thank God!" he broke in, 
 wildly joyous, unspeakably relieved. " I have a right 
 to love you then to love you and love you and love 
 you!" " 
 
 She suddenly sprang to her feet, to avoid the mad- 
 ness of his wooing. " But wait ! " she cried. " I've 
 got to tell you all ! I am no one no one no one 
 in the world! I don't belong in your social sphere. 
 I'm only what Alice has made me ! Now now 
 you can take it all back if you like ! " She had never 
 been braver, never more beautiful, honest, splendid, in 
 all her changeful career. She faced him frankly, her 
 wonderful courage and candor shining in her eyes, with 
 a light of love she feared at that moment must be for- 
 ever hopeless. 
 
 " Little heart ! " he said, his utterance singularly 
 soft and charged with tenderness. " You are my little 
 Princess, my glorious little Queen. You are what the 
 gods have made you my Thurley the noblest, 
 sweetest little woman in the world ! " 
 
 She sank on the bench, weakly, her eyes abruptly 
 filled. " Oh, Robley don't say it, please," she 
 begged, " if you ever want to take it back again ! " 
 
 He sank on his knee, despite all sense of the time or 
 place, and kissed her hand. " Comrade ! " he said. 
 "Beloved!" 
 
 He drove the car when at last they knew they must 
 return to her avenue home. They were alone at last
 
 A TRYSTING PLACE 375 
 
 in the room wherein so many emotions had run their 
 course. She came to him simply, such a wealth of love 
 overbrimming her eyes that Robley's senses lifted away 
 from all the things of earth. 
 
 He held her passionately in his arms, while her own 
 arms stole about his neck. Then they took and gav 
 the wondrous kiss of glory.
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 PBINCESS THURLEY 
 
 THE social triumph of Alice Van Kirk was in no wise 
 diminished when at length the truth concerning Prin- 
 cess Thirvinia was known throughout the length and 
 breadth of Swelldom. Thurley had gained, rather than 
 lost, admiring hosts, and the natural interest excited 
 was increased. 
 
 The dinner that Alice long had planned was the sea- 
 son's social masterpiece. The holidays were spent 
 away from town, where Robley and Thurley, like two 
 young striplings from the Pantheon, before the pagan 
 gods and goddesses had lost their pristine charm, found 
 new delights and new relations with the earth and stars 
 in the wonder of their love. 
 
 A brilliant procession of social events marched 
 through the weeks as they sped. The recent past, 
 with its doubts and fears, its excitements, intrigues, 
 and startling evolutions, was gliding away on the placid 
 sea of memory, when one more echo rolled across from 
 far Hertzegotha, where the young Grand Duke with a 
 bride resembling Thurley Ruxton had succeeded to the 
 throne. 
 
 It came in the name of their majesties, but bore the 
 signature of Baron von Hochhaus, whose personal let- 
 ter was attached. 
 
 " In recognition of invaluable services to Princess 
 Thirvinia, to the Kingdom of Hertzegotha, and to 
 
 376
 
 A honeymovn day was wafting lazily by.
 
 PRINCESS THURLEY 377 
 
 Karl-Wilhelm-Herman, King by the grace of God, and 
 in the name and with the love of an appreciative and 
 perpetually grateful people," was the reading of part 
 of the message which described a modest, but glorious 
 girl as " defender of her Majesty the Queen " and a 
 " Princess by special appointment of Heaven." 
 
 It was a triple " recognition." There was first the 
 scroll, a gold laid, massive and impressive document, 
 denoting the " extraordinary " service rendered, then 
 " in partial liquidation of the State's indebtedness " a 
 gift of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and 
 finally a medal and full decoration of the Royal Legion 
 of Courage. 
 
 But the last little contribution, which succeeded in 
 quite overwhelming the heart of the " Princess by ap- 
 pointment of Heaven " was the merest unofficial scrawl 
 from the big proportioned little Baron. " I trust the 
 love of an old man, fond in his own poor personal ca- 
 pacity, may likewise be accepted." 
 
 There was much that was golden and marvelously 
 sweet to gaze back upon in wonder as Thurley and 
 Robley, at the stern of the great Atlantic liner, watched 
 all America, green with coming spring, dip slowly down 
 in the purple sea and disappear behind the earth's ro- 
 tundity. There was much that was splendid and dream 
 fulfilling for them both to contemplate, far out to the 
 east, where an older world would rise from the sea, 
 above the rounded bulk of ocean. But most of all and 
 greater than all was the world of limitless space and 
 inexpressible splendor that the two beheld when they 
 looked again in each other's eyes. ' A honeymoon day 
 from the tropics, spiced with the fragrances of far-off 
 Yucatan, was wafting lazily by.
 
 378 THURLEY RUXTON 
 
 Thurley smiled as she gazed at the sun splash in the 
 water. " Is it too soon yet," she said, " to ask where 
 I'm going to be taken ? " 
 
 " To motor through Egypt first," he answered hap- 
 pily, " then all about the Continent, and perhaps to 
 Hertzegotha." 
 
 She clung to his arm and leaned upon his shoulder, 
 closing her eyes in the sheer delight she had no words 
 to express. 
 
 Like the Prince in the tale, he leaned in rapture and 
 kissed her on the lips. 
 
 But to all the world of love and ecstasy the Princess 
 was already wide awake. 
 
 THE END
 
 A 000 111 168 1