Clementina  By A.E.W. Mason  Author of " The Courtship of Morrice Buckler " " Parson Kelly " etc.  Illustrated by Bernard Partridge  New York  Frederick A .  Stokes Company Publishers  1901  THIRD EDITION  UNIVERSITY PRESS JOHN WILSON AND SON , CAMBRIDGE , U.S.A.  CHAPTER I  The landlord , the lady , and Mr. Charles Wogan were all three , it seemed , in luck 'sway that September morning of the year 1719. Wogan was not surprised , his luck for the moment was altogether in , so that even when his horse stumbled and went lame at a desolate part of the road from Florence to Bologna , he had no doubt but that somehow fortune would serve him .  His horse stepped gingerly on for a few yards , stopped , and looked round at his master .  Wogan and his horse were on the best of terms .  " Is it so bad as that ?  " said he , and dismounting he gently felt the strained leg .  Then he took the bridle in his hand and walked forward , whistling as he walked .  Yet the place and the hour were most unlikely to give him succour .  It was early morning , and he walked across an empty basin of the hills .  The sun was not visible , though the upper air was golden and the green peaks of the hills rosy .  The basin itself was filled with a broad uncoloured light , and lay naked to it and extraordinarily still .  There were as yet no shadows ; the road rose and dipped across low ridges of turf , a ribbon of dead and unillumined white ; and the grass at any distance from the road had the darkness of peat .  He led his horse forward for perhaps a mile , and then turning a corner by a knot of trees came unexpectedly upon a wayside inn .  In front of the inn stood a travelling carriage with its team of horses .  The backs of the horses smoked , and the candles of the lamps were still burning in the broad daylight .  Mr. Wogan quickened his pace .  He would beg a seat on the box to the next posting stage .  Fortune had served him .  As he came near he heard from the interior of the inn a woman 'svoice , not unmusical so much as shrill with impatience , which perpetually ordered and protested .  As he came nearer he heard a man 'svoice obsequiously answering the protests , and as the sound of his footsteps rang in front of the inn both voices immediately stopped .  The door was flung hastily open , and the landlord and the lady ran out onto the road .  " Sir , " said the lady in Italian , " I need a postillion .  "  To Wogan 'sthinking she needed much more than a postillion .  She needed certainly a retinue of servants .  He was not quite sure that she did not need a nurse , for she was a creature of an exquisite fragility , with the pouting face of a child , and the childishness was exaggerated by a great muslin bow she wore at her throat .  Her pale hair , where it showed beneath her hood , was fine as silk and as glossy ; her eyes had the colour of an Italian sky at noon , and her cheeks the delicate tinge of a carnation .  The many laces and ribbons , knotted about her dress in a manner most mysterious to Wogan , added to her gossamer appearance ; and , in a word , she seemed to him something too flowerlike for the world 'srough usage .  " I must have a postillion , " she continued .  " Presently , madam , " said the landlord , smiling with all a Tuscan peasant 'sdesire to please .  " In a minute .  In less than a minute .  "  He looked complacently about him as though at any moment now a crop of postillions might be expected to flower by the roadside .  The lady turned from him with a stamp of the foot and saw that Wogan was curiously regarding her carriage .  A boy stood at the horses 'heads , but his dress and sleepy face showed that he had not been half an hour out of bed , and there was no one else .  Wogan was wondering how in the world she had travelled as far as this inn .  The lady explained .  " The postillion who drove me from Florence was drunk — oh , but drunk !  He rolled off his horse just here , opposite the door .  See , I beat him , " and she raised the beribboned handle of a toy-like cane .  " But it was no use .  I broke my cane over his back , but he would not get up .  He crawled into the passage where he lies .  "  Wogan had some ado not to smile .  Neither the cane nor the hand which wielded it would be likely to interfere even with a sober man 'sslumbers .  " And I must reach Bologna to-day , " she cried in an extreme agitation .  " It is of the last importance .  "  " Fortune is kind to us both , madam , " said Wogan , with a bow .  " My horse is lamed , as you see .  I will be your charioteer , for I too am in a desperate hurry to reach Bologna .  "  Immediately the lady drew back .  " Oh !  " she said with a start , looking at Wogan .  Wogan looked at her .  " Ah !  " said he , thoughtfully .  They eyed each other for a moment , each silently speculating what the other was doing alone at this hour and in such a haste to reach Bologna .  " You are English ?  " she said with a great deal of unconcern , and she asked in English .  That she was English , Wogan already knew from her accent .  His Italian , however , was more than passable , and he was a wary man by nature as well as by some ten years 'training in a service where wariness was the first need , though it was seldom acquired .  He could have answered " No " quite truthfully , being Irish .  He preferred to answer her in Italian as though he had not understood .  " I beg your pardon .  Yes , I will drive you to Bologna if the landlord will swear to look after my horse .  " And he was very precise in his directions .  The landlord swore very readily .  His anxiety to be rid of his vociferous guest and to get back to bed was extreme .  Wogan climbed into the postillion 'ssaddle , describing the while such remedies as he desired to be applied to the sprained leg .  " The horse is a favourite ?  " asked the lady .  " Madam , " said Wogan , with a laugh , " I would not lose that horse for all the world , for the woman I shall marry will ride on it into my city of dreams .  "  The lady stared , as she well might .  She hesitated with her foot upon the step .  " Is he sober ?  " she asked of the landlord .  " Madam , " said the landlord , unabashed , " in this district he is nicknamed the water drinker .  "  " You know him , then ?  He is Italian ?  "  " He is more .  He is of Tuscany .  "  The landlord had never seen Wogan in his life before , but the lady seemed to wish some assurance on the point , so he gave it .  He shut the carriage door , and Wogan cracked his whip .  The postillion 'sdesires were of a piece with the lady 's.  They raced across the valley , and as they climbed the slope beyond , the sun came over the crests .  One moment the dew upon the grass was like raindrops , the next it shone like polished jewels .  The postillion shouted a welcome to the sun , and the lady proceeded to breakfast in her carriage .  Wogan had to snatch a meal as best he could while the horses were changed at the posting stage .  The lady would not wait , and Wogan for his part was used to a light fare .  He drove into Bologna that afternoon .  The lady put her head from the window and called out the name of a street .  Her postillion , however , paid no heed : he seemed suddenly to have grown deaf ; he whipped up his horses , shouted encouragements to them and warnings to the pedestrians on the roads .  The carriage rocked round corners and bounced over the uneven stones .  Wogan had clean forgotten the fragility of the traveller within .  He saw men going busily about , talking in groups and standing alone , and all with consternation upon their faces .  The quiet streets were alive with them .  Something had happened that day in Bologna , — some catastrophe .  Or news had come that day , — bad news .  Wogan did not stop to inquire .  He drove at a gallop straight to a long white house which fronted the street .  The green latticed shutters were closed against the sun , but there were servants about the doorway , and in their aspect , too , there was something of disorder .  Wogan called to one of them , jumped down from his saddle , and ran through the open doorway into a great hall with frescoed walls all ruined by neglect .  At the back of the hall a marble staircase , guarded by a pair of marble lions , ran up to a landing and divided .  Wogan set foot on the staircase and heard an exclamation of surprise .  He looked up .  A burly , good-humoured man in the gay embroideries of a courtier was descending towards him .  " You ?  " cried the courtier .  " Already ?  " and then laughed .  He was the only man whom Wogan had seen laugh since he drove into Bologna , and he drew a great breath of hope .  " Then nothing has happened , Whittington ?  There is no bad news ?  "  " There is news so bad , my friend , that you might have jogged here on a mule and still have lost no time .  Your hurry is clean wasted , " answered Whittington .  Wogan ran past him up the stairs , and so left the hall and the open doorway clear .  Whittington looked now straight through the doorway , and saw the carriage and the lady on the point of stepping down onto the kerb .  His face assumed a look of extreme surprise .  Then he glanced up the staircase after Wogan and laughed as though the conjunction of the lady and Mr. Wogan was a rare piece of amusement .  Mr. Wogan did not hear the laugh , but the lady did .  She raised her head , and at the same moment the courtier came across the hall to meet her .  As soon as he had come close , " Harry , " said she , and gave him her hand .  He bent over it and kissed it , and there was more than courtesy in the warmth of the kiss .  " But I 'mglad you 'vecome .  I did not look for you for another week , " he said in a low voice .  He did not , however , offer to help her to alight .  " This is your lodging ?  " she asked .  " No , " said he , " the King 's; " and the woman shrank suddenly back amongst her cushions .  In a moment , however , her face was again at the door .  " Then who was he , — my postillion ?  "  " Your postillion ?  " asked Whittington , glancing at the servant who held the horses .  " Yes , the tall man who looked as if he should have been a scholar and had twisted himself all awry into a soldier .  You must have passed him in the hall .  "  Whittington stared at her .  Then he burst again into a laugh .  " Your postillion , was he ?  That 'sthe oddest thing , " and he lowered his voice .  " Your postillion was Mr. Charles Wogan , who comes from Rome post-haste with the Pope 'sprocuration for the marriage .  You have helped him on his way , it seems .  Here 'sa good beginning , to be sure .  "  The lady uttered a little cry of anger , and her face hardened out of all its softness .  She clenched her fists viciously , and her blue eyes grew cold and dangerous as steel .  At this moment she hardly looked the delicate flower she had appeared to Wogan 'sfancy .  " But you need not blame yourself , " said Whittington , and he lowered his head to a level with hers .  " All the procurations in Christendom will not marry James Stuart to Clementina Sobieski .  "  " She has not come , then ?  "  " No , nor will she come .  There is news to-day .  Lean back from the window , and I will tell you .  She has been arrested at Innspruck .  "  The lady could not repress a crow of delight .  " Hush , " said Whittington .  Then he withdrew his head and resumed in his ordinary voice , " I have hired a house for your Ladyship , which I trust will be found convenient .  My servant will drive you thither .  "  He summoned his servant from the group of footmen about the entrance , gave him his orders , bowed to the ground , and twisting his cane sauntered idly down the street .  CHAPTER II  Wogan mounted the stairs , not daring to speculate upon the nature of the bad news .  But his face was pale beneath its sunburn , and his hand trembled on the balustrade ; for he knew — in his heart he knew .  There could be only one piece of news which would make his haste or tardiness matters of no account .  Both branches of the stairs ran up to a common landing , and in the wall facing him , midway between the two stairheads , was a great door of tulip wood .  An usher stood by the door , and at Wogan 'sapproach opened it .  Wogan , however , signed to him to be silent .  He wished to hear , not to speak , and so he slipped into the room unannounced .  The door was closed silently behind him , and at once he was surprised by the remarkable silence , almost a cessation of life it seemed , in a room which was quite full .  Wherever the broad bars of sunshine fell , as they slanted dusty with motes through the open lattices of the shutters , they striped a woman 'sdress or a man 'svelvet coat .  Yet if anyone shuffled a foot or allowed a petticoat to rustle , that person glanced on each side guiltily .  A group of people were gathered in front of the doorway .  Their backs were towards Wogan , and they were looking towards the centre of the room .  Wogan raised himself on his toes and looked that way too .  Having looked he sank down again , aware at once that he had travelled of late a long way in a little time , and that he was intolerably tired .  For that one glance was enough to deprive him of his last possibility of doubt .  He had seen the Chevalier de St. George , his King , sitting apart in a little open space , and over against him a short squarish man , dusty as Wogan himself , who stood and sullenly waited .  It was Sir John Hay , the man who had been sent to fetch the Princess Clementina privately to Bologna , and here he now was back at Bologna and alone .  Wogan had counted much upon this marriage , more indeed than any of his comrades .  It was to be the first step of the pedestal in the building up of a throne .  It was to establish in Europe a party for James Stuart as strong as the party of Hanover .  But so much was known to everyone in that room ; to Wogan the marriage meant more .  For even while he found himself muttering over and over with dry lips , as white and exhausted he leaned against the door , Clementina 'squalifications , — " Daughter of the King of Poland , cousin to the Emperor and to the King of Portugal , niece to the Electors of Treves , Bavaria , and Palatine , " — the image of the girl herself rose up before his eyes and struck her titles from his thoughts .  She was the chosen woman , chosen by him out of all Europe — and lost by John Hay !  He remembered very clearly at that moment his first meeting with her .  He had travelled from court to court in search of the fitting wife , and had come at last to the palace at Ohlau in Silesia .  It was in the dusk of the evening , and as he was ushered into the great stone hall , hung about and carpeted with barbaric skins , he had seen standing by the blazing wood fire in the huge chimney a girl in a riding dress .  She raised her head , and the firelight struck upwards on her face , adding a warmth to its bright colours and a dancing light to the depths of her dark eyes .  Her hair was drawn backwards from her forehead , and the frank , sweet face revealed to him from the broad forehead to the rounded chin told him that here was one who joined to a royal dignity the simple nature of a peasant girl who works in the fields and knows more of animals than of mankind .  Wogan was back again in that stone hall when the voice of the Chevalier with its strong French accent broke in upon his vision .  " Well , we will hear the story .  Well , you left Ohlau with the Princess and her mother and a mile-long train of servants in spite of my commands of secrecy .  "  There was more anger and less despondency than was often heard in his voice .  Wogan raised himself again on tiptoes and noticed that the Chevalier 'sface was flushed and his eyes bright with wrath .  " Sir , " pleaded Hay , " the Princess 'smother would not abate a man .  "  " Well , you reached Ratisbon .  And there ?  "  " There the English minister came forward from the town to flout us with an address of welcome in which he used not our incognitos but our true names .  "  " From Ratisbon then no doubt you hurried ?  Since you were discovered , you shed your retinue and hurried ?  "  " Sir , we hurried — to Augsburg , " faltered Hay .  He stopped , and then in a burst of desperation he said , " At Augsburg we stayed eight days .  "  " Eight days ?  "  There was a stir throughout the room ; a murmur began and ceased .  Wogan wiped his forehead and crushed his handkerchief into a hard ball in his palm .  It seemed to him that here in this room he could see the Princess Clementina 'sface flushed with the humiliation of that loitering .  " And why eight days in Augsburg ?  "  " The Princess 'smother would have her jewels reset .  Augsburg is famous for its jewellers , " stammered Hay .  The murmur rose again ; it became almost a cry of stupefaction .  The Chevalier sprang from his chair .  " Her jewels reset !  " he said .  He repeated the words in bewilderment .  " Her jewels reset !  " Then he dropped again into his seat .  " I lose a wife , gentlemen , and very likely a kingdom too , so that a lady may have her jewels reset at Augsburg , where , to be sure , there are famous jewellers .  "  His glance , wandering in a dazed way about the room , settled again on Hay .  He stamped his foot on the ground in a feverish irritation .  " And those eight days gave just the time for a courier from the Emperor at Vienna to pass you on the road and not press his horse .  One should be glad of that .  It would have been a pity had the courier killed his horse .  Oh , I can fashion the rest of the story for myself .  You trailed on to Innspruck , where the Governor marched out with a troop and herded you in .  They let you go , however .  No doubt they bade you hurry back to me .  "  " Sir , I did hurry , " said Hay , who was now in a pitiable confusion .  " I travelled hither without rest .  "  The anger waned in the Chevalier 'seyes as he heard the plea , and a great dejection crept over his face .  " Yes , you would do that , " said he .  " That would be the time for you to hurry with a pigeon 'sswiftness so that your King might taste his bitter news not a minute later than need be .  And what said she upon her arrest ?  "  " The Princess 'smother ?  " asked Hay , barely aware of what he said .  " No. Her Highness , the Princess Clementina .  What said she ?  "  " Sir , she covered her face with her hands for perhaps the space of a minute .  Then she leaned forward to the Governor , who stood by her carriage , and cried , ' Shut four walls about me quick !  I could sink into the earth for shame .  ' "  Wogan in those words heard her voice as clearly as he saw her face and the dry lips between which the voice passed .  He had it in his heart to cry aloud , to send the words ringing through that hushed room , " She would have tramped here barefoot had she had one guide with a spirit to match hers .  " For a moment he almost fancied that he had spoken them , and that he heard the echo of his voice vibrating down to silence .  But he had not , and as he realised that he had not , a new thought occurred to him .  No one had remarked his entrance into the room .  The group in front still stood with their backs towards him .  Since his entrance no one had remarked his presence .  At once he turned and opened the door so gently that there was not so much as a click of the latch .  He opened it just wide enough for himself to slip through , and he closed it behind him with the same caution .  On the landing there was only the usher .  Wogan looked over the balustrade ; there was no one in the hall below .  " You can keep a silent tongue , " he said to the usher .  " There 'sprofit in it ; " and Wogan put his hand into his pocket .  " You have not seen me if any ask .  "  " Sir , " said the man , " any bright object disturbs my vision .  "  " You can see a crown , though , " said Wogan .  " Through a breeches pocket .  But if I held it in my hand — "  " It would dazzle you .  "  " So much that I should be blind to the giver .  "  The crown was offered and taken .  Wogan went quietly down the stairs into the hall .  There were a few lackeys at the door , but they would not concern themselves at all because Mr. Wogan had returned to Bologna .  He looked carefully out into the street , chose a moment when it was empty , and hurried across it .  He dived into the first dark alley that he came to , and following the wynds and byways of the town made his way quickly to his lodging .  He had the key to his door in his pocket , and he now kept it ready in his hand .  From the shelter of a corner he watched again till the road was clear ; he even examined the windows of the neighbouring houses lest somewhere a pair of eyes might happen to be alert .  Then he made a run for his door , opened it without noise , and crept secretly as a thief up the stairs to his rooms , where he had the good fortune to find his servant .  Wogan had no need to sign to him to be silent .  The man was a veteran corporal of French Guards who after many seasons of campaigning in Spain and the Low Countries had now for five years served Mr. Wogan .  He looked at his master and without a word went off to make his bed .  Wogan sat down and went carefully over in his mind every minute of the time since he had entered Bologna .  No one had noticed him when he rode in as the lady 'spostillion , — no one .  He was sure of that .  The lady herself did not know him from Adam , and fancied him an Italian into the bargain — of that , too , he had no doubt .  The handful of lackeys at the door of the King 'shouse need not be taken into account .  They might gossip among themselves , but Wogan 'sappearances and disappearances were so ordinary a matter , even that was unlikely .  The usher 'ssilence he had already secured .  There was only one acquaintance who had met and spoken with him , and that by the best of good fortune was Harry Whittington , — the idler who took his banishment and his King 'smisfortunes with an equally light heart , and gave never a thought at all to anything weightier than a gamecock .  Wogan 'sspirits revived .  He had not yet come to the end of his luck .  He sat down and wrote a short letter and sealed it up .  " Marnier , " he called out in a low voice , and his servant came from the adjoining room , " take this to Mr. Edgar , the King 'ssecretary , as soon as it grows dusk .  Have a care that no one sees you deliver it .  Lock the parlour door when you go , and take the key .  I am not yet back from Rome .  " With that Wogan remembered that he had not slept for forty-eight hours .  Within two minutes he was between the sheets ; within five he was asleep .  CHAPTER III  Wogan waked up in the dark and was seized with a fear that he had slept too long .  He jumped out of bed and pushed open the door of his parlour .  There was a lighted lamp in the room , and Marnier was quietly laying his master 'ssupper .  " At what hour ?  " asked Wogan .  " Ten o'clock , monsieur , at the little postern in the garden wall .  "  " And the time now ?  "  " Nine .  "  Wogan dressed with some ceremony , supped , and at eight minutes to ten slipped down the stairs and out of doors .  He had crushed his hat down upon his forehead and he carried his handkerchief at his face .  But the streets were dark and few people were abroad .  At a little distance to his left he saw above the housetops a glow of light in the air which marked the Opera-House .  Wogan avoided it ; he kept again to the alleys and emerged before the Chevalier 'slodging .  This he passed , but a hundred yards farther on he turned down a side street and doubled back upon his steps along a little byway between small houses .  The line of houses , however , at one point was broken by a garden wall .  Under this wall Wogan waited until a clock struck ten , and while the clock was still striking he heard on the other side of the wall the brushing of footsteps amongst leaves and grass .  Wogan tapped gently on a little door in the wall .  It was opened no less gently , and Edgar the secretary admitted him , led him across the garden and up a narrow flight of stairs into a small lighted cabinet .  Two men were waiting in that room .  One of them wore the scarlet robe , an old man with white hair and a broad bucolic face , whom Wogan knew for the Pope 'sLegate , Cardinal Origo .  The slender figure of the other , clad all in black but for the blue ribbon of the Garter across his breast , brought Wogan to his knee .  Wogan held out the Pope 'sprocuration to the Chevalier , who took it and devoutly kissed the signature .  Then he gave his hand to Wogan with a smile of friendliness .  " You have outsped your time by two days , Mr. Wogan .  That is unwise , since it may lead us to expect again the impossible of you .  But here , alas , your speed for once brings us no profit .  You have heard , no doubt .  Her Highness the Princess Clementina is held at Innspruck in prison .  "  Wogan rose to his feet .  " Prisons , sir , " he said quietly , " have been broken before to-day .  I myself was once put to that necessity .  " The words took the Chevalier completely by surprise .  He leaned back in his chair and stared at Wogan .  " An army could not rescue her , " he said .  " No , but one man might .  "  " You ?  " he exclaimed .  He pressed down the shade of the lamp to throw the light fully upon Wogan 'sface .  " It is impossible !  "  " Then I beg your Majesty to expect the impossible again .  "  The Chevalier drew his hand across his eyes and stared afresh at Wogan .  The audacity of the exploit and the imperturbable manner of its proposal caught his breath away .  He rose from his chair and took a turn or two across the room .  Wogan watched his every gesture .  It would be difficult he knew to wring the permission he needed from his dejected master , and his unruffled demeanour was a calculated means of persuasion .  An air of confidence was the first requisite .  In reality , however , Wogan was not troubled at this moment by any thought of failure .  It was not that he had any plan in his head ; but he was fired with a conviction that somehow this chosen woman was not to be wasted , that some day , released by some means in spite of all the pressure English Ministers could bring upon the Emperor , she would come riding into Bologna .  The Chevalier paused in his walk and looked towards the Cardinal .  " What does your Eminence say ?  "  " That to the old the impulsiveness of youth is eternally charming , " said the Cardinal , with a foppish delicacy of speaking in an odd contrast to his person .  Mr. Wogan understood that he had a second antagonist .  " I am not a youth , your Eminence , " he exclaimed with all the indignation of twenty-seven years .  " I am a man .  "  " But an Irishman , and that spells youth .  You write poetry too , I believe , Mr. Wogan .  It is a heady practice .  "  Wogan made no answer , though the words stung .  An argument with the Cardinal would be sure to ruin his chance of obtaining the Chevalier 'sconsent .  He merely bowed to the Cardinal and waited for the Chevalier to speak .  " Look you , Mr. Wogan ; while the Emperor 'sat war with Spain , while England 'sfleet could strip him of Sicily , he 'sEngland 'shenchman .  He dare not let the Princess go .  We know it .  General Heister , the Governor of Innspruck , is under pain of death to hold her safe .  "  " But , sir , would the world stop if General Heister died ?  "  " A German scaffold if you fail .  "  " In the matter of scaffolds I have no leaning towards any one nationality .  "  The Cardinal smiled .  He liked a man of spirit , though he might think him absurd .  The Chevalier resumed his restless pacing to and fro .  " It is impossible .  "  But he seemed to utter the phrase with less decision this second time .  Wogan pressed his advantage at the expense of his modesty .  " Sir , will you allow me to tell you a story , — a story of an impossible escape from Newgate in the heart of London by a man in fetters ?  There were nine grenadiers with loaded muskets standing over him .  There were two courtyards to cross , two walls to climb , and beyond the walls the unfriendly streets .  The man hoodwinked his sentries , climbed his two walls , crossed the unfriendly streets , and took refuge in a cellar , where he was discovered .  From the cellar in broad daylight he fought his way to the roofs , and on the roofs he played such a game of hide-and-seek among the chimney-tops — " Wogan broke off from his story with a clear thrill of laughter ; it was a laugh of enjoyment at a pleasing recollection .  Then he suddenly flung himself down on his knee at the feet of his sovereign .  " Give me leave , your Majesty , " he cried passionately .  " Let me go upon this errand .  If I fail , if the scaffold 'sdressed for me , why where 'sthe harm ?  Your Majesty loses one servant out of his many .  Whereas , if I win — " and he drew a long breath .  " Aye , and I shall win !  There 'sthe Princess , too , a prisoner .  Sir , she has ventured much .  I beg you give me leave .  "  The Chevalier laid his hand gently upon Wogan 'sshoulder , but he did not assent .  He looked again doubtfully to the Cardinal , who said with his pleasant smile , " I will wager Mr. Wogan a box at the Opera on the first night that he returns , that he will return empty-handed .  "  Wogan rose to his feet and replied good-humouredly , " It 'sa wager I take the more readily in that your Eminence cannot win , though you may lose .  For if I return empty-handed , upon my honour I 'llnot return at all .  "  The Cardinal condescended to laugh .  Mr. Wogan laughed too .  He had good reason , for here was his Eminence in a kindly temper and the Chevalier warming out of his melancholy .  And , indeed , while he was still laughing the Chevalier caught him by the arm as a friend might do , and in an outburst of confidence , very rare with him , he said , " I would that I could laugh so .  You and Whittington , I do envy you .  An honest laugh , there 'sthe purge for melancholy .  But I cannot compass it , " and he turned away .  " Sure , sir , you 'llput us all to shame when I bring her Royal Highness out of Innspruck .  "  " Oh , that !  " said the Chevalier , as though for the moment he had forgotten .  " It is impossible , " and the phrase was spoken now in an accent of hesitation .  Moreover , he sat down at a table , and drawing a sheet of paper written over with memoranda , he began to read aloud with a glance towards Wogan at the end of each sentence .  " The house stands in the faubourgs of Innspruck .  There is an avenue of trees in front of the house ; on the opposite side of the avenue there is a tavern with the sign of ' The White Chamois .  ' "  Wogan committed the words to memory .  " The Princess and her mother , " continued the Chevalier , " are imprisoned in the east side of the house .  "  " And how guarded , sir ?  " asked Wogan .  The Chevalier read again from his paper .  " A sentry at each door , a third beneath the prisoners 'windows .  They keep watch night and day .  Besides , twice a day the magistrate visits the house .  "  " At what hours ?  "  " At ten in the morning .  The same hour at night .  "  " And on each visit the magistrate sees the Princess ?  "  " Yes , though she lies abed .  "  Wogan stroked his chin .  The Cardinal regarded him quizzically .  " I trust , Mr. Wogan , that we shall hear Farini .  There is talk of his coming to Bologna .  "  Wogan did not answer .  He was silent ; he saw the three sentinels standing watchfully about the house ; he heard them calling " All 'swell " each to the other .  Then he asked , " Has the Princess her own servants to attend her ?  "  " Only M .  Chateaudoux , her chamberlain .  "  " Ah !  "  Wogan leaned forward with a question on his tongue he hardly dared to ask .  So much hung upon the answer .  " And M .  Chateaudoux is allowed to come and go ?  "  " In the daylight .  "  Wogan turned to the Cardinal .  " The box will be the best box in the house , " Wogan suggested .  " Oh , sir , " replied the Cardinal , " on the first tier , to be sure .  "  Wogan turned back to the Chevalier .  " All that I need now is a letter from your Majesty to the King of Poland and a few rascally guineas .  I can leave Bologna before a soul 'sastir in the morning .  No one but Whittington saw me to-day , and a word will keep him silent .  There will be secrecy — " but the Chevalier suddenly cut him short .  " No , " said he , bringing the palm of his hand down upon the table .  " Here 'sa blow that we must bend to !  It 'sa dream , this plan of yours .  "  " But a dream I 'lldream so hard , sir , that I 'lldream it true , " cried Wogan , in despair .  " No , no , " said the Chevalier .  " We 'lltalk no more of it .  There 'sGod 'swill evident in this arrest , and we must bend to it ; " and at once Wogan remembered his one crowning argument .  It was so familiar to his thoughts , it had lain so close at his heart , that he had left it unspoken , taking it as it were for granted that others were as familiar with it as he .  " Sir , " said he , eagerly , " I have never told you , but the Princess Clementina when a child amongst her playmates had a favourite game .  They called it kings and queens .  And in that game the Princess was always chosen Queen of England .  "  The Chevalier started .  " Is that so ?  " and he gazed into Wogan 'seyes , making sure that he spoke the truth .  " In very truth it is , " and the two men stood looking each at the other and quite silent .  It was the truth , a mere coincidence if you will , but to both these men omens and auguries were the gravest matters .  " There indeed is God 'sfinger pointing , " cried Wogan .  " Sir , give me leave to follow it .  "  The Chevalier still stood looking at him in silence .  Then he said suddenly , " Go , then , and God speed you !  You are a gallant gentleman .  "  He sat down thereupon and wrote a letter to the King of Poland , asking him to entrust the rescue of his daughter into Wogan 'shands .  This letter Wogan took and money for his journey .  " You will have preparations to make , " said the Chevalier .  " I will not keep you .  You have horses ?  "  Mr. Wogan had two in a stable at Bologna .  " But , " he added , " there is a horse I left this morning six miles this side of Fiesole , a black horse , and I would not lose it .  "  " Nor shall you , " said the Chevalier .  Wogan crept back to his lodging as cautiously as he had left it .  There was no light in any window but in his own , where his servant , Marnier , awaited him .  Wogan opened the door softly and found the porter asleep in his chair .  He stole upstairs and made his preparations .  These , however , were of the simplest kind , and consisted of half-a-dozen orders to Marnier and the getting into bed .  In the morning he woke before daybreak and found Marnier already up .  They went silently out of the house as the dawn was breaking .  Marnier had the key to the stables , and they saddled the two horses and rode through the blind and silent streets with their faces muffled in their cloaks .  They met no one , however , until they were come to the outskirts of the town .  But then as they passed the mouth of an alley a man came suddenly out and as suddenly drew back .  The morning was chill , and the man was closely wrapped .  Wogan could not distinguish his face or person , and looking down the alley he saw at the end of it only a garden wall , and over the top of the wall a thicket of trees and the chimney-tops of a low house embosomed amongst them .  He rode on , secure in the secrecy of his desperate adventure .  But that same morning Mr. Whittington paid a visit to Wogan 'slodging and asked to be admitted .  He was told that Mr. Wogan had not yet returned to Bologna .  " So , indeed , I thought , " said he ; and he sauntered carelessly along , not to his own house , but to one smaller , situated at the bottom of a cul-de-sac and secluded amongst trees .  At the door he asked whether her Ladyship was yet visible , and was at once shown into a room with long windows which stood open to the garden .  Her Ladyship lay upon a sofa sipping her coffee and teasing a spaniel with the toe of her slipper .  " You are early , " she said with some surprise .  " And yet no earlier than your Ladyship , " said Whittington .  " I have to make my obeisance to my King , " said she , stifling a yawn .  " Could one , I ask you , sleep on so important a day ?  "  Mr. Whittington laughed genially .  Then he opened the door and glanced along the passage .  When he turned back into the room her Ladyship had kicked the spaniel from the sofa and was sitting bolt upright with all her languor gone .  " Well ?  " she asked quickly .  Whittington took a seat on the sofa by her side .  " Charles Wogan left Bologna at daybreak .  Moreover , I have had a message from the Chevalier bidding me not to mention that I saw him in Bologna yesterday .  One could hazard a guess at the goal of so secret a journey .  "  " Ohlau !  " exclaimed the lady , in a whisper .  Then she nestled back upon the sofa and bit the fragment of lace she called her handkerchief .  " So there 'san end of Mr. Wogan , " she said pleasantly .  Whittington made no answer .  " For there 'sno chance that he 'llsucceed , " she continued with a touch of anxiety in her voice .  Whittington neither agreed nor contradicted .  He asked a question instead .  " What is the sharpest spur a man can know ?  What is it that gives a man audacity to attempt and wit to accomplish the impossible ?  "  The lady smiled .  " The poets tell us love , " said she , demurely .  Whittington nodded his head .  " Wogan speaks very warmly of the Princess Clementina .  "  Her Ladyship 'sred lips lost their curve .  Her eyes became thoughtful , apprehensive .  " I wonder , " she said slowly .  " Yes , I too wonder , " said Whittington .  Outside the branches of the trees rustled in the wind and flung shadows , swift as ripples , across the sunlit grass .  But within the little room there was a long silence .  CHAPTER IV  M .  Chateaudoux , the chamberlain , was a little portly person with a round , red face like a cherub 's.  He was a creature of the house , one that walked with delicate steps , a conductor of ceremonies , an expert in the subtleties of etiquette ; and once he held his wand of office in his hand , there was nowhere to be found a being so precise and consequential .  But out of doors he had the timidity of a cat .  He lived , however , by rule and rote , and since it had always been his habit to take the air between three and four of the afternoon , he was to be seen between those hours at Innspruck on any fine day mincing along the avenue of trees before the villa in which his mistress was held prisoner .  On one afternoon during the month of October he passed a hawker , who , tired with his day 'stramp , was resting on a bench in the avenue , and who carried upon his arm a half-empty basket of cheap wares .  The man was ragged ; his toes were thrusting through his shoes ; it was evident that he wore no linen , and a week 'sgrowth of beard dirtily stubbled his chin , — in a word , he was a man from whom M .  Chateaudoux 'sprim soul positively shrank .  M .  Chateaudoux went quickly by , fearing to be pestered for alms .  The hawker , however , remained seated upon the bench , drawing idle patterns upon the gravel with a hazel stick stolen from a hedgerow .  The next afternoon the hawker was in the avenue again , only this time on a bench at the opposite end ; and again he paid no heed to M .  Chateaudoux , but sat moodily scraping the gravel with his stick .  On the third afternoon M .  Chateaudoux found the hawker seated in the middle of the avenue and over against the door of the guarded villa .  M .  Chateaudoux , when his timidity slept , was capable of good nature .  There was a soldier with a loaded musket in full view .  The hawker , besides , had not pestered him .  He determined to buy some small thing , — a mirror , perhaps , which was always useful , — and he approached the hawker , who for his part wearily flicked the gravel with his stick and drew a curve here and a line there until , as M .  Chateaudoux stopped before the bench , there lay sketched at his feet the rude semblance of a crown .  The stick swept over it the next instant and left the gravel smooth .  But M .  Chateaudoux had seen , and his heart fluttered and sank .  For here were plots , possibly dangers , most certainly trepidations .  He turned his back as though he had seen nothing , and constraining himself to a slow pace walked towards the door of the villa .  But the hawker was now at his side , whining in execrable German and a strong French accent the remarkable value of his wares .  There were samplers most exquisitely worked , jewels for the most noble gentleman 'shonoured sweetheart , and purses which emperors would give a deal to buy .  Chateaudoux was urged to take notice that emperors would give sums to lay a hand on the hawker 'spurses .  M .  Chateaudoux pretended not to hear .  " I want nothing , " he said , " nothing in the world ; " and he repeated the statement in order to drown the other 'svoice .  " A purse , good gentleman , " persisted the hawker , and he dangled one before Chateaudoux 'seyes .  Not for anything would Chateaudoux take that purse .  " Go away , " he cried ; " I have a sufficiency of purses , and I will not be plagued by you .  "  They were now at the steps of the villa , and the sentry , lifting the butt of his musket , roughly thrust the hawker back .  " What have you there ?  Bring your basket here , " said he ; and to Chateaudoux 'sconsternation the hawker immediately offered the purse to the sentinel .  " It is only the poor who have kind hearts , " he said ; " here 'sthe proper purse for a soldier .  It is so hard to get the money out that a man is saved an ocean of drink .  "  The hawker 'sreadiness destroyed any suspicions the sentinel may have felt .  " Go away , " he said , " quick !  "  " You will buy the purse ?  "  The sentinel raised his musket again .  " Then the kind gentleman will , " said the hawker , and he thrust the purse into M .  Chateaudoux 'sreluctant hand .  Chateaudoux could feel within the purse a folded paper .  He was committed now without a doubt , and in an extreme alarm he flung a coin into the roadway and got him into the house .  The sentinel carelessly dropped the butt of his musket on the coin .  " Go , " said he , and with a sudden kick he lifted the hawker half across the road .  The hawker happened to be Charles Wogan , who took a little matter like that with the necessary philosophy .  He picked himself up and limped off .  Now the next day a remarkable thing happened .  M .  Chateaudoux swerved from the regularity of his habits .  He walked along the avenue , it is true ; but at the end of it he tripped down a street and turned out of that into another which brought him to the arcades .  He did not appear to enjoy his walk ; indeed , any hurrying footsteps behind startled him exceedingly and made his face turn white and red , and his body hot and cold .  However , he proceeded along the arcades to the cathedral , which he entered ; and just as the clock struck half-past three , in a dark corner opposite to the third of the great statues he drew his handkerchief from his pocket .  The handkerchief flipped out a letter which fell onto the ground .  In the gloom it was barely visible ; and M .  Chateaudoux walked on , apparently unconscious of his loss .  But a comfortable citizen in a snuff-coloured suit picked it up and walked straight out of the cathedral to the Golden Fleece Inn in the Hochstrasse , where he lodged .  He went up into his room and examined the letter .  It was superscribed " To M .  Chateaudoux , " and the seal was broken .  Nevertheless , the finder did not scruple to read it .  It was a love-letter to the little gentleman from one Friederika .  " I am heart-broken , " wrote Friederika , " but my fidelity to my Chateaudoux has not faltered , nor will not , whatever I may be called upon to endure .  I cannot , however , be so undutiful as to accept my Chateaudoux 'saddresses without my father 'sconsent ; and my mother , who is of the same mind with me , insists that even with that consent a runaway marriage is not to be thought of unless my Chateaudoux can provide me with a suitable woman for an attendant .  "  These conditions fulfilled , Friederika was willing to follow her Chateaudoux to the world 'send .  The comfortable citizen in the snuff-coloured suit sat for some while over that letter with a strange light upon his face and a smile of great happiness .  The comfortable citizen was Charles Wogan , and he could dissociate the obstructions of the mother from the willingness of the girl .  The October evening wove its veils from the mountain crests across the valleys ; the sun and the daylight had gone from the room before Wogan tore that letter up and wrote another to the Chevalier at Bologna , telling him that the Princess Clementina would venture herself gladly if he could secure the consent of Prince Sobieski , her father .  And the next morning he drove out in a carriage towards Ohlau in Silesia .  It was as the Chevalier Warner that he had first journeyed thither to solicit for his King the Princess Clementina 'shand .  Consequently he used the name again .  Winter came upon him as he went ; the snow gathered thick upon the hills and crept down into the valleys , encumbering his path .  The cold nipped his bones ; he drove beneath great clouds and through a stinging air , but of these discomforts he was not sensible .  For the mission he was set upon filled his thoughts and ran like a fever in his blood .  He lay awake at nights inventing schemes of evasion , and each morning showed a flaw , and the schemes crumbled .  Not that his faith faltered .  At some one moment he felt sure the perfect plan , swift and secret , would be revealed to him , and he lived to seize the moment .  The people with whom he spoke became as shadows ; the inns where he rested were confused into a common semblance .  He was like a man in a trance , seeing ever before his eyes the guarded villa at Innspruck , and behind the walls , patient and watchful , the face of the chosen woman ; so that it was almost with surprise that he looked down one afternoon from the brim of a pass in the hills and saw beneath him , hooded with snow , the roofs and towers of Ohlau .  At Ohlau Wogan came to the end of his luck .  From the moment when he presented his letter he was aware of it .  The Prince was broken by his humiliation and the sufferings of his wife and daughter .  He was even inclined to resent them at the expense of the Chevalier , for in his welcome to Wogan there was a measure of embarrassment .  His shoulders , which had before been erect , now stooped , his eyes were veiled , the fire had burnt out in him ; he was an old man visibly ageing to his grave .  He read the letter and re-read it .  " No , " said he , impatiently ; " I must now think of my daughter .  Her dignity and her birth forbid that she should run like a criminal in fear of capture , and at the peril very likely of her life , to a king who , after all , is as yet without a crown .  " And then seeing Wogan flush at the words , he softened them .  " I frankly say to you , Mr. Warner , that I know no one to whom I would sooner entrust my daughter than yourself , were I persuaded to this project .  But it is doomed to fail .  It would make us the laughing-stock of Europe , and I ask you to forget it .  Do you fancy the Emperor guards my daughter so ill that you , single-handed , can take her from beneath his hand ?  "  " Your Highness , I shall choose some tried friends to help me .  "  " There is no single chance of success .  I ask you to forget it and to pass your Christmas here as my very good friend .  The sight is longer in age , Mr. Warner , than in youth , and I see far enough now to know that the days of Don Quixote are dead .  Here is a matter where all Europe is ranged and alert on one side or the other .  You cannot practise secrecy .  At Ohlau your face is known , your incognito too .  Mr. Warner came to Ohlau once before , and the business on which he came is common knowledge .  The motive of your visit now , which I tell you openly is very grateful to me , will surely be suspected .  "  Wogan had reason that night to acknowledge the justice of the Prince 'sargument .  He accepted his hospitality , thinking that with time he would persuade him to allow the attempt ; and after supper , while making riddles in verse to amuse some of the ladies of the court , one of them , the Countess of Berg , came forward from a corner where she had been busy with pencil and paper and said , " It is our turn now .  Here , Mr. Warner , is an acrostic which I ask you to solve for me .  " And with a smile which held a spice of malice she handed him the paper .  Upon it there were ten rhymed couplets .  Wogan solved the first four , and found that the initial letters of the words were C , L , E , M .  The answer to the acrostic was " Clementina .  " Wogan gave the paper back .  " I can make neither head nor tail of it , " said he .  " The attempt is beyond my powers .  "  " Ah , " said she , drily , " you own as much ?  I would never have believed you would have owned it .  "  " But what is the answer ?  " asked a voice at which Wogan started .  " The answer , " replied the Countess , " is Mary , Queen of Scots , who was most unjustly imprisoned in Fotheringay , " and she tore the paper into tiny pieces .  Wogan turned towards the voice which had so startled him and saw the gossamer lady whom he had befriended on the road from Florence .  At once he rose and bowed to her .  " I should have presented you before to my friend , Lady Featherstone , " said the Countess , " but it seems you are already acquainted .  "  " Indeed , Mr. Warner did me a great service at a pinch , " said Lady Featherstone .  " He was my postillion , though I never paid him , as I do now in thanks .  "  " Your postillion !  " cried one or two of the ladies , and they gathered about the great stove as Lady Featherstone told the story of Wogan 'scharioting .  " I bade him hurry , " said she , " and he outsped my bidding .  Never was there a postillion so considerately inconsiderate .  I was tossed like a tennis ball , I was one black bruise , I bounced from cushion to cushion ; and then he drew up with a jerk , sprang off his horse , vanished into a house and left me , panting and dishevelled , a twist of torn ribbons and lace , alone in my carriage in the streets of Bologna .  "  " Bologna .  Ah !  " said the Countess , with a smile of significance at Wogan .  Wogan was looking at Lady Featherstone .  His curiosity , thrust into the back of his mind by the more important matter of his mission now revived .  What had been this lady 'sbusiness who travelled alone to Bologna and in such desperate haste ?  " Your Ladyship , I remember , " he said , " gave me to understand that you were sorely put to it to reach Bologna .  "  Her Ladyship turned her blue eyes frankly upon Wogan .  Then she lowered them .  " My brother , " she explained , " lay at death 'sdoor in Venice .  I had just landed at Leghorn , where I left my maid to recover from the sea , and hurrying across Italy as I did , I still feared that I should not see him alive .  "  The explanation was made readily in a low voice natural to one remembering a great distress , but without any affectation of gesture or so much as a glance sideways to note whether Wogan received it trustfully or not .  Wogan , indeed , was reassured in a great measure .  True , the Countess of Berg was now his declared enemy , but he need not join all her friends in that hostility .  " I was able , most happily , " continued Lady Featherstone , " to send my brother homewards in a ship a fortnight back , and so to stay with my friend here on my way to Vienna , for we English are all bitten with the madness of travel .  Mr. Warner will bear me out ?  "  " To be sure I will , " said Wogan , stoutly .  " For here am I in the depths of winter journeying to the carnival in Italy .  "  The Countess smiled , all disbelief and amusement , and Lady Featherstone turned quickly towards him .  " For my frankness I claim a like frankness in return , " said she , with a pretty imperiousness .  Wogan was a little startled .  He suddenly remembered that he had pretended to know no English on the road to Bologna , nor had he given any reason for his haste .  But it was upon neither of these matters that she desired to question him .  " You spoke in parables , " said she , " which are detestable things .  You said you would not lose your black horse for the world because the lady you were to marry would ride upon it into your city of dreams .  There 'sa saying that has a provoking prettiness .  I claim a frank answer .  "  Wogan was silent , and his face took on the look of a dreamer .  " Come , " said one .  It was the Princess Charlotte , the second daughter of the Prince Sobieski , who spoke .  " We shall not let you off , " said she .  Wogan knew that she would not .  She was a girl who was never checked by any inconvenience her speech might cause .  Her tongue was a watchman 'srattle , and she never spoke but she laughed to point the speech .  " Be frank , " said the Countess ; " it is a matter of the heart , and so proper food for women .  "  " True , " answered Wogan , lightly , " it is a matter of the heart , and in such matters can one be frank — even to oneself ?  "  Wogan was immediately puzzled by the curious look Lady Featherstone gave him .  The words were a mere excuse , yet she seemed to take them very seriously .  Her eyes sounded him .  " Yes , " she said slowly ; " are you frank , even to yourself ?  " and she spoke as though a knowledge of the answer would make a task easier to her .  Wogan 'sspeculations , however , were interrupted by the entrance of Princess Casimira , Sobieski 'seldest daughter .  Wogan welcomed her coming for the first time in all his life , for she was a kill-joy , a person of an extraordinary decorum .  According to Wogan , she was " that black care upon the horseman 'sback which the poets write about .  " Her first question if she was spoken to was whether the speaker was from top to toe fitly attired ; her second , whether the words spoken were well-bred .  At this moment , however , her mere presence put an end to the demands for an explanation of Wogan 'ssaying about his horse , and in a grateful mood to her he slipped from the room .  This evening was but one of many during that Christmastide .  Wogan must wear an easy countenance , though his heart grew heavy as lead .  The Countess of Berg was the Prince Constantine 'sfavourite ; and Wogan was not slow to discover that her smiling face and quiet eyes hid the most masterful woman at that court .  He made himself her assiduous servant , whether in hunting amid the snow or in the entertainments at the palace , but a quizzical deliberate word would now and again show him that she was still his enemy .  With the Princess Casimira he was a profound critic of observances : he invented a new cravat and was most careful that there should never be a wrinkle in his stockings ; with the Princess Charlotte he laughed till his head sang .  He played all manner of parts ; the palace might have been the stage of a pantomime and himself the harlequin .  But for all his efforts it did not seem that he advanced his cause ; and if he made headway one evening with the Prince , the next morning he had lost it , and so Christmas came and passed .  But two days after Christmas a courier brought a letter to the castle .  He came in the evening , and the letter was carried to Wogan while he was at table .  He noticed at once that it was in his King 'shand , and he slipped it quickly into his pocket .  It may have been something precipitate in his manner , or it may have been merely that all were on the alert to mark his actions , but at once curiosity was aroused .  No plain words were said ; but here and there heads nodded together and whispered , and while some eyed Wogan suspiciously , a few women whose hearts were tuned to a sympathy with the Princess in her imprisonment , or touched with the notion of a romantic attachment , smiled upon him their encouragement .  The Countess of Berg for once was unobservant , however .  Wogan made his escape from the company as soon as he could , and going up to his apartments read the letter .  The moon was at its full , and what with the clear , frosty air , and the snow stretched over the world like a white counterpane , he was able to read the letter by the window without the light of a candle .  It was written in the Chevalier 'sown cipher and hand ; it asked anxiously for news and gave some .  Wogan had had occasion before to learn that cipher by heart .  He stood by the window and spelled the meaning .  Then he turned to go down ; but at the door his foot slipped upon the polished boards , and he stumbled onto his knee .  He picked himself up , and thinking no more of the matter rejoined the company in a room where the Countess of Berg was playing upon a harp .  " The King , " said Wogan , drawing the Prince apart , " leaves Bologna for Rome .  "  " So the letter came from him ?  " asked the Prince , with an eagerness which could not but seem hopeful to his companion .  " And in his own hand , " replied Wogan .  The Prince shuffled and hesitated as though he was curious to hear particulars .  Wogan thought it wise to provoke his curiosity by disregarding it .  It seemed that there was wisdom in his reticence , for a little later the Prince took him aside while the Countess of Berg was still playing upon her harp , and said , —  " Single-handed you could do nothing .  You would need friends .  "  Wogan took a slip of paper from his pocket and gave it to the Prince .  " On that slip , " said he , " I wrote down the names of all the friends whom I could trust , and by the side of the names the places where I could lay my hands upon them .  One after the other I erased the names until only three remained .  "  The Prince nodded and read out the names .  " Gaydon , Misset , O'Toole .  They are good men ?  "  " The flower of Ireland .  Those three names have been my comfort these last three weeks .  "  " And all the three at Schlestadt .  How comes that about ?  "  " Your Highness , they are all three officers in Dillon 'sIrish regiment , and so have that further advantage .  "  " Advantage ?  "  " Your Highness , " said Wogan , " Schlestadt is near to Strasbourg , which again is not far from Innspruck , and being in French territory would be the most convenient place to set off from .  "  There was a sound of a door shutting ; the Prince started , looked at Wogan , and laughed .  He had been upon the verge of yielding ; but for that door Wogan felt sure he would have yielded .  Now , however , he merely walked away to the Countess of Berg , and sitting beside her asked her to play a particular tune .  But he still held the slip of paper in his hand and paid but a scanty heed to the music , now and then looking doubtfully towards Wogan , now and then scanning that long list of names .  His lips , too , moved as though he was framing the three selected names , Gaydon , Misset , O'Toole , and " Schlestadt " as a bracket uniting them .  Then he suddenly rose up and crossed the room to Wogan .  " My daughter wrote that a woman must attend her .  It is a necessary provision .  "  " Your Highness , Misset has a wife , and the wife matches him .  "  " They are warned to be ready ?  "  " At your Highness 'sfirst word that slip of paper travels to Schlestadt .  It is unsigned , it imperils no one , it betrays nothing .  But it will tell its story none the less surely to those three men , for Gaydon knows my hand .  "  The Prince smiled in approval .  " You have prudence , Mr. Warner , as well as audacity , " said he .  He gave the paper back , listened for a little to the Countess , who was bending over her harp-strings , and then remarked , " The Prince 'sletter was in his own hand too ?  "  " But in cipher .  "  " Ah !  "  The Prince was silent for a while .  He balanced himself first on one foot , then on the other .  " Ciphers , " said he , " are curious things , compelling to the imagination and a provocation to the intellect .  "  Mr. Wogan kept a grave face and he replied with unconcern , though his heart beat quick ; for if the Prince had so much desire to see the Chevalier 'sletter , he must be well upon his way to consenting to Wogan 'splan .  " If your Highness will do me the honour to look at this cipher .  It has baffled the most expert .  "  His Highness condescended to be pleased with Wogan 'ssuggestion .  Wogan crossed the room towards the door ; but before he reached it , the Countess of Berg suddenly took her fingers from her harp-strings with a gesture of annoyance .  " Mr. Warner , " she said , " will you do me the favour to screw this wire tighter ?  " And once or twice she struck it with her fingers .  " May I claim that privilege ?  " said the Prince .  " Your Highness does me too much honour , " said the Countess , but the Prince was already at her side .  At once she pointed out to him the particular string .  Wogan went from the room and up the great staircase .  He was lodged in a wing of the palace .  From the head of the staircase he proceeded down a long passage .  Towards the end of this passage another short passage branched off at a right angle on the left-hand side .  At the corner of the two passages stood a table with a lamp and some candlesticks .  This time Wogan took a candle , and lighting it at the lamp turned into the short passage .  It was dark but for the light of Wogan 'scandle , and at the end of it facing him were two doors side by side .  Both doors were closed , and of these the one on the left gave onto his room .  Wogan had walked perhaps halfway from the corner to his door before he stopped .  He stopped suddenly and held his breath .  Then he shaded his candle with the palm of his hand and looked forward .  Immediately he turned , and walking on tiptoe came silently back into the big passage .  Even this was not well lighted ; it stretched away upon his right and left , full of shadows .  But it was silent .  The only sounds which reached Wogan as he stood there and listened were the sounds of people moving and speaking at a great distance .  He blew out his candle , cautiously replaced it on the table , and crept down again towards his room .  There was no window in this small passage , there was no light there at all except a gleam of silver in front of him and close to the ground .  That gleam of silver was the moonlight shining between the bottom of one of the doors and the boards of the passage .  And that door was not the door of Wogan 'sroom , but the room beside it .  Where his door stood , there might have been no door at all .  Yet the moon which shone through the windows of one room must needs also shine into the other , unless , indeed , the curtains were drawn .  But earlier in the evening Wogan had read a letter by the moonlight at his window ; the curtains were not drawn .  There was , therefore , a rug , an obstruction of some sort against the bottom of the door .  But earlier in the evening Wogan 'sfoot had slipped upon the polished boards ; there had been no mat or skin at all .  It had been pushed there since .  Wogan could not doubt for what reason .  It was to conceal the light of a lamp or candle within the room .  Someone , in a word , was prying in Wogan 'sroom , and Wogan began to consider who .  It was not the Countess , who was engaged upon her harp , but the Countess had tried to detain him .  Wogan was startled as he understood the reason of her harp becoming so suddenly untuned .  She had spoken to him with so natural a spontaneity , she had accepted the Prince 'said with so complete an absence of embarrassment ; but none the less Wogan was sure that she knew .  Moreover , a door had shut — yes , while he was speaking to the Prince a door had shut .  So far Wogan 'sspeculations had travelled when the moonlight streamed out beneath his door too .  It made now a silver line across the passage broken at the middle by the wall between the rooms .  The mat had been removed , the candle put out , the prying was at an end ; in another moment the door would surely open .  Now Wogan , however anxious to discover who it was that spied , was yet more anxious that the spy should not discover that the spying was detected .  He himself knew , and so was armed ; he did not wish to arm his enemies with a like knowledge .  There was no corner in the passage to conceal him ; there was no other door behind which he could slip .  When the spy came out , Wogan would inevitably be discovered .  He made up his mind on the instant .  He crept back quickly and silently out of the mouth of the passage , then he made a noise with his feet , turned again into the passage , and walked loudly towards his door .  Even so he was only just in time .  Had he waited a moment longer , he would have been detected .  For even as he turned the corner there was already a vertical line of silver on the passage wall ; the door had been already opened .  But as his footsteps sounded on the boards , that line disappeared .  He walked slowly , giving his spy time to replace the letter , time to hide .  He purposely carried no candle , he reached his door and opened it .  The room to all seeming was empty .  Wogan crossed to a table , looking neither to the right nor the left , above all not looking towards the bed hangings .  He found the letter upon the table just as he had left it .  It could convey no knowledge of his mission , he was sure .  It had not even the appearance of a letter in cipher ; it might have been a mere expression of Christmas good wishes from one friend to another .  But to make his certainty more sure , and at the same time to show that he had no suspicion anyone was hiding in the room , he carried the letter over to the window , and at once he was aware of the spy 'shiding-place .  It was not the bed hangings , but close at his side the heavy window curtain bulged .  The spy was at his very elbow ; he had but to lift his arm — and of a sudden the letter slipped from his hand to the floor .  He did not drop it on purpose , he was fairly surprised ; for looking down to read the letter he had seen protruding from the curtain a jewelled shoe buckle , and the foot which the buckle adorned seemed too small and slender for a man 's.  Wogan had an opportunity to make certain .  He knelt down and picked up the letter ; the foot was a woman 's.  As he rose up again , the curtain ever so slightly stirred .  Wogan pretended to have remarked nothing ; he stood easily by the window with his eyes upon his letter and his mind busy with guessing what woman his spy might be .  And he remained on purpose for some while in this attitude , designing it as a punishment .  So long as he stood by the window that unknown woman cheek by jowl with him must hold her breath , must never stir , must silently endure an agony of fear at each movement that he made .  At last he moved , and as he turned away he saw something so unexpected that it startled him .  Indeed , for the moment it did more than startle him , it chilled him .  He understood that slight stirring of the curtain .  The woman now held a dagger in her hand , and the point of the blade stuck out and shone in the moonlight like a flame .  Wogan became angry .  It was all very well for the woman to come spying into his room ; but to take a dagger to him , to think a dagger in a woman 'shand could cope with him , — that was too preposterous .  Wogan felt very much inclined to sweep that curtain aside and tell his visitor how he had escaped from Newgate and played hide-and-seek amongst the chimney-pots .  And although he restrained himself from that , he allowed his anger to get the better of his prudence .  Under the impulse of his anger he acted .  It was a whimsical thing that he did , and though he suffered for it he could never afterwards bring himself to regret it .  He deliberately knelt down and kissed the instep of the foot which protruded from the curtain .  He felt the muscles of the foot tighten , but the foot was not withdrawn .  The curtain shivered and shook , but no cry came from behind it , and again the curtain hung motionless .  Wogan went out of the room and carried the letter to the Prince .  The Countess of Berg was still playing upon her harp , and she gave no sign that she remarked his entrance .  She did not so much as shoot one glance of curiosity towards him .  The Prince carried the letter off to his cabinet , while Wogan sat down beside the Countess and looked about the room .  " I have not seen Lady Featherstone this evening , " said he .  " Have you not ?  " asked the Countess , easily .  " Not so much as her foot , " replied Wogan .  The conviction came upon him suddenly .  Her hurried journey to Bologna and her presence at Ohlau were explained to him now by her absence from the room .  His own arrival at Bologna had not remained so secret as he had imagined .  The fragile and gossamer lady , too flowerlike for the world 'srough usage , was the woman who had spied in his room and who had possessed the courage to stand silent and motionless behind the curtain after her presence there had been discovered .  Wogan had a picture before his eyes of the dagger she had held .  It was plain that she would stop at nothing to hinder this marriage , to prevent the success of his design ; and somehow the contrast between her appearance and her actions had something uncanny about it .  Wogan was inclined to shiver as he sat chatting with the Countess .  He was not reassured when Lady Featherstone boldly entered the room ; she meant to face him out .  He remarked , however , with a trifle of satisfaction that for the first time she wore rouge upon her cheeks .  CHAPTER V  Wogan , however , was not immediately benefited by his discovery .  He knew that if a single whisper of it reached the Prince 'sear there would be at once an end to his small chances .  The old man would take alarm ; he might punish the offender , but he would none the less surely refuse his consent to Wogan 'sproject .  Wogan must keep his lips quite closed and let his antagonists do boldly what they would .  And that they were active he found a way to discover .  The Countess from this time plied him with kindness .  He must play cards with her and Prince Constantine in the evening ; he must take his coffee in her private apartments in the morning .  So upon one of these occasions he spoke of his departure from Ohlau .  " I shall go by way of Prague ; " and he stopped in confusion and corrected himself quickly .  " At least , I am not sure .  There are other ways into Italy .  "  The Countess showed no more concern than she had shown over her harp-string .  She talked indifferently of other matters as though she had barely heard his remark ; but she fell into the trap .  Wogan was aware that the Governor of Prague was her kinsman ; and that afternoon he left the castle alone , and taking the road to Vienna , turned as soon as he was out of sight and hurried round the town until he came out upon the road to Prague .  He hid himself behind a hedge a mile from Ohlau , and had not waited half an hour before a man came riding by in hot haste .  The man wore the Countess 'slivery of green and scarlet ; Wogan decided not to travel by way of Prague , and returned to the castle content with his afternoon 'swork .  He had indeed more reason to be content with it than he knew , for he happened to have remarked the servant 'sface as well as his livery , and so at a later time was able to recognise it again .  He had no longer any doubt that a servant in the same livery was well upon his way to Vienna .  The roads were bad , it was true , and the journey long ; but Wogan had not the Prince 'sconsent , and could not tell when he would obtain it .  The servant might return with the Emperor 'sorder for his arrest before he had obtained it .  Wogan was powerless .  He sent his list of names to Gaydon in Schlestadt , but that was the only precaution he could take .