CHAPTER 2
Concerning the Colour of Men's Hair
It was a maxim of my Uncle William's that no man should pass throughParis without spending four-and-twenty hours there. My uncle spoke outof a ripe experience of the world, and I honoured his advice by puttingup for a day and a night at "The Continental" on my way to--the Tyrol.I called on George Featherly at the Embassy, and we had a bit of dinnertogether at Durand's, and afterwards dropped in to the Opera; andafter that we had a little supper, and after that we called on BertramBertrand, a versifier of some repute and Paris correspondent to _TheCritic_. He had a very comfortable suite of rooms, and we found somepleasant fellows smoking and talking. It struck me, however, thatBertram himself was absent and in low spirits, and when everybody exceptourselves had gone, I rallied him on his moping preoccupation. Hefenced with me for a while, but at last, flinging himself on a sofa, heexclaimed:
"Very well; have it your own way. I am in love--infernally in love!"
"Oh, you'll write the better poetry," said I, by way of consolation.
He ruffled his hair with his hand and smoked furiously. GeorgeFeatherly, standing with his back to the mantelpiece, smiled unkindly.
"If it's the old affair," said he, "you may as well throw it up, Bert.She's leaving Paris tomorrow."
"I know that," snapped Bertram.
"Not that it would make any difference if she stayed," pursued therelentless George. "She flies higher than the paper trade, my boy!"
"Hang her!" said Bertram.
"It would make it more interesting for me," I ventured to observe, "if Iknew who you were talking about."
"Antoinette Mauban," said George.
"De Mauban," growled Bertram.
"Oho!" said I, passing by the question of the `de'. "You don't mean tosay, Bert--?"
"Can't you let me alone?"
"Where's she going to?" I asked, for the lady was something of acelebrity.
George jingled his money, smiled cruelly at poor Bertram, and answeredpleasantly:
"Nobody knows. By the way, Bert, I met a great man at her house theother night--at least, about a month ago. Did you ever meet him--theDuke of Strelsau?"
"Yes, I did," growled Bertram.
"An extremely accomplished man, I thought him."
It was not hard to see that George's references to the duke wereintended to aggravate poor Bertram's sufferings, so that I drew theinference that the duke had distinguished Madame de Mauban by hisattentions. She was a widow, rich, handsome, and, according to repute,ambitious. It was quite possible that she, as George put it, was flyingas high as a personage who was everything he could be, short of enjoyingstrictly royal rank: for the duke was the son of the late King ofRuritania by a second and morganatic marriage, and half-brother to thenew King. He had been his father's favourite, and it had occasionedsome unfavourable comment when he had been created a duke, with a titlederived from no less a city than the capital itself. His mother had beenof good, but not exalted, birth.
"He's not in Paris now, is he?" I asked.
"Oh no! He's gone back to be present at the King's coronation; aceremony which, I should say, he'll not enjoy much. But, Bert, old man,don't despair! He won't marry the fair Antoinette--at least, not unlessanother plan comes to nothing. Still perhaps she--" He paused and added,with a laugh: "Royal attentions are hard to resist--you know that, don'tyou, Rudolf?"
"Confound you!" said I; and rising, I left the hapless Bertram inGeorge's hands and went home to bed.
The next day George Featherly went with me to the station, where I tooka ticket for Dresden.
"Going to see the pictures?" asked George, with a grin.
George is an inveterate gossip, and had I told him that I was off toRuritania, the news would have been in London in three days and in ParkLane in a week. I was, therefore, about to return an evasive answer,when he saved my conscience by leaving me suddenly and darting acrossthe platform. Following him with my eyes, I saw him lift his hat andaccost a graceful, fashionably dressed woman who had just appeared fromthe booking-office. She was, perhaps, a year or two over thirty, tall,dark, and of rather full figure. As George talked, I saw her glance atme, and my vanity was hurt by the thought that, muffled in a fur coatand a neck-wrapper (for it was a chilly April day) and wearing a softtravelling hat pulled down to my ears, I must be looking very far frommy best. A moment later, George rejoined me.
"You've got a charming travelling companion," he said. "That's poor BertBertrand's goddess, Antoinette de Mauban, and, like you, she's going toDresden--also, no doubt, to see the pictures. It's very queer, though,that she doesn't at present desire the honour of your acquaintance."
"I didn't ask to be introduced," I observed, a little annoyed.
"Well, I offered to bring you to her; but she said, 'Another time.'Never mind, old fellow, perhaps there'll be a smash, and you'll have achance of rescuing her and cutting out the Duke of Strelsau!"
No smash, however, happened, either to me or to Madame de Mauban. I canspeak for her as confidently as for myself; for when, after a night'srest in Dresden, I continued my journey, she got into the same train.Understanding that she wished to be let alone, I avoided her carefully,but I saw that she went the same way as I did to the very end of myjourney, and I took opportunities of having a good look at her, when Icould do so unobserved.
As soon as we reached the Ruritanian frontier (where the old officer whopresided over the Custom House favoured me with such a stare that I feltsurer than before of my Elphberg physiognomy), I bought the papers, andfound in them news which affected my movements. For some reason, whichwas not clearly explained, and seemed to be something of a mystery, thedate of the coronation had been suddenly advanced, and the ceremony wasto take place on the next day but one. The whole country seemed in astir about it, and it was evident that Strelsau was thronged. Rooms wereall let and hotels overflowing; there would be very little chance of myobtaining a lodging, and I should certainly have to pay an exorbitantcharge for it. I made up my mind to stop at Zenda, a small town fiftymiles short of the capital, and about ten from the frontier. My trainreached there in the evening; I would spend the next day, Tuesday, in awander over the hills, which were said to be very fine, and in takinga glance at the famous Castle, and go over by train to Strelsau on theWednesday morning, returning at night to sleep at Zenda.
Accordingly at Zenda I got out, and as the train passed where I stood onthe platform, I saw my friend Madame de Mauban in her place; clearly shewas going through to Strelsau, having, with more providence than I couldboast, secured apartments there. I smiled to think how surprisedGeorge Featherly would have been to know that she and I had been fellowtravellers for so long.
I was very kindly received at the hotel--it was really no more than aninn--kept by a fat old lady and her two daughters. They were good,quiet people, and seemed very little interested in the great doings atStrelsau. The old lady's hero was the duke, for he was now, under thelate King's will, master of the Zenda estates and of the Castle, whichrose grandly on its steep hill at the end of the valley a mile or sofrom the inn. The old lady, indeed, did not hesitate to express regretthat the duke was not on the throne, instead of his brother.
"We know Duke Michael," said she. "He has always lived among us; everyRuritanian knows Duke Michael. But the King is almost a stranger; he hasbeen so much abroad, not one in ten knows him even by sight."
"And now," chimed in one of the young women, "they say he has shaved offhis beard, so that no one at all knows him."
"Shaved his beard!" exclaimed her mother. "Who says so?"
"Johann, the duke's keeper. He has seen the King."
"Ah, yes. The King, sir, is now at the duke's hunting-lodge in theforest here; from here he goes to Strelsau to be crowned on Wednesdaymorning."
I was interested to hear this, and made up my mind to walk next day inthe direction of the lodge, on the chance of coming across the King. Theold lady ran on garrulously:
"Ah, and I wish he woul
d stay at his hunting--that and wine (and onething more) are all he loves, they say--and suffer our duke to becrowned on Wednesday. That I wish, and I don't care who knows it."
"Hush, mother!" urged the daughters.
"Oh, there's many to think as I do!" cried the old woman stubbornly.
I threw myself back in my deep armchair, and laughed at her zeal.
"For my part," said the younger and prettier of the two daughters, afair, buxom, smiling wench, "I hate Black Michael! A red Elphberg forme, mother! The King, they say, is as red as a fox or as--"
And she laughed mischievously as she cast a glance at me, and tossed herhead at her sister's reproving face.
"Many a man has cursed their red hair before now," muttered the oldlady--and I remembered James, fifth Earl of Burlesdon.
"But never a woman!" cried the girl.
"Ay, and women, when it was too late," was the stern answer, reducingthe girl to silence and blushes.
"How comes the King here?" I asked, to break an embarrassed silence. "Itis the duke's land here, you say."
"The duke invited him, sir, to rest here till Wednesday. The duke is atStrelsau, preparing the King's reception."
"Then they're friends?"
"None better," said the old lady.
But my rosy damsel tossed her head again; she was not to be repressedfor long, and she broke out again:
"Ay, they love one another as men do who want the same place and thesame wife!"
The old woman glowered; but the last words pricked my curiosity, and Iinterposed before she could begin scolding:
"What, the same wife, too! How's that, young lady?"
"All the world knows that Black Michael--well then, mother, theduke--would give his soul to marry his cousin, the Princess Flavia, andthat she is to be the queen."
"Upon my word," said I, "I begin to be sorry for your duke. But if a manwill be a younger son, why he must take what the elder leaves, and beas thankful to God as he can;" and, thinking of myself, I shrugged myshoulders and laughed. And then I thought also of Antoinette de Maubanand her journey to Strelsau.
"It's little dealing Black Michael has with--" began the girl, bravingher mother's anger; but as she spoke a heavy step sounded on the floor,and a gruff voice asked in a threatening tone:
"Who talks of 'Black Michael' in his Highness's own burgh?"
The girl gave a little shriek, half of fright--half, I think, ofamusement.
"You'll not tell of me, Johann?" she said.
"See where your chatter leads," said the old lady.
The man who had spoken came forward.
"We have company, Johann," said my hostess, and the fellow plucked offhis cap. A moment later he saw me, and, to my amazement, he started backa step, as though he had seen something wonderful.
"What ails you, Johann?" asked the elder girl. "This is a gentleman onhis travels, come to see the coronation."
The man had recovered himself, but he was staring at me with an intense,searching, almost fierce glance.
"Good evening to you," said I.
"Good evening, sir," he muttered, still scrutinizing me, and the merrygirl began to laugh as she called--
"See, Johann, it is the colour you love! He started to see your hair,sir. It's not the colour we see most of here in Zenda."
"I crave your pardon, sir," stammered the fellow, with puzzled eyes. "Iexpected to see no one."
"Give him a glass to drink my health in; and I'll bid you good night,and thanks to you, ladies, for your courtesy and pleasant conversation."
So speaking, I rose to my feet, and with a slight bow turned to thedoor. The young girl ran to light me on the way, and the man fell backto let me pass, his eyes still fixed on me. The moment I was by, hestarted a step forward, asking:
"Pray, sir, do you know our King?"
"I never saw him," said I. "I hope to do so on Wednesday."
He said no more, but I felt his eyes following me till the door closedbehind me. My saucy conductor, looking over her shoulder at me as shepreceded me upstairs, said:
"There's no pleasing Master Johann for one of your colour, sir."
"He prefers yours, maybe?" I suggested.
"I meant, sir, in a man," she answered, with a coquettish glance.
"What," asked I, taking hold of the other side of the candlestick, "doescolour matter in a man?"
"Nay, but I love yours--it's the Elphberg red."
"Colour in a man," said I, "is a matter of no more moment thanthat!"--and I gave her something of no value.
"God send the kitchen door be shut!" said she.
"Amen!" said I, and left her.
In fact, however, as I now know, colour is sometimes of considerablemoment to a man.