登陆注册
19909700000018

第18章

BEHIND THE PUPPET BOOTH

While the absent-minded hunter strode down toward the lower town, and Maurice sipped his cognac, the king lay in his bed in the palace and aimlessly fingered the counterpane.There was now no beauty in his face.It was furrowed and pale, and an endless fever burned in the sunken eyes--eyes like coals, which suddenly flare before they turn to ash.

The archbishop nor the chancellor could see anything in the dim corners of the royal bed chamber, but he could.It was the mocking finger of death, and it was leveled at him.Spring had come, and summer and autumn and winter, and spring again, but he had not wandered through the green fields, except in dreams, and the byways he loved knew him no more.Ah, to sit still like a spectator and to see the world pass by! To be a part of it, and yet not of it! To see the glory of strength and vigor just beyond one's grasp, the staffs to lean on crumble to the touch, and the stars of hope fade away one by one from the firmament of one's dreams! Here was weariness for which there was no remedy.

Day by day time pressed him on toward the inevitable.No human hand could stay him.He could think, but he could not act.He could move, but he could not stand nor walk.And that philosophy which had in other days sustained him was shattered and threadbare.He was dead, yet he lived.Fate has so many delicate ironies.

He had tried to make his people love him, only to acquire their hate.He had reduced taxation, only to be scorned.He had made the city beautiful, only to be cursed.A paralytic, the theme of ribald verse, the butt of wineroom wits, the object of contumely to his people, his beneficiaries!

The ingratitude of kings bites not half so deep as the ingratitude of the people.Tears filled his eyes, and he fumbled his lips.There were only two bright spots in his futile life.

The first was his daughter, who read to him, who was the first in the morning to greet him and last at night to leave him.The second was the evening hour when the archbishop and the chancellor came in to discuss the affairs of state.

"And Prince Frederick has not yet been heard from?" was his first inquiry.

"No, Sire," answered the chancellor."The matter is altogether mysterious.The police can find no trace of him.He left Carnavia for Bleiberg; he stopped at Ehrenstein, directed his suite to proceed; there, all ends.The ambassador from Carnavia approached me to-day.He scouts the idea of a peasant girl, and hinted at other things.""Yes," said the king, "there is something behind all this.

Frederick is not a youth of peccadilloes.Something has happened to him.But God send him safe and sound to us, so much depends on him.And Alexia?""Says nothing," the archbishop answered, "a way with her when troubled.""And my old friend, Lord Fitzgerald?"

The prelate shook his head sadly."We have just been made acquainted with his death.God rest his kindly soul."The king sank deeper into his pillows.

"But we shall hear from his son within a few days," continued the prelate, taking the king's hand in his own."My son, cease to worry.Alexia's future is in good hands.I have confidence that the public debt will be liquidated on the twentieth.""Or renewed," said the chancellor."Your Majesty must not forget that Prince Frederick sacrifices his own private fortune to adjust our indebtedness.That is the wedding gift which he offers to her Highness.One way or the other, we have nothing to fear.""O!" cried the king, "I had forgotten that magnanimity.His disappearance is no longer a mystery.He is dead."His auditors could not repress the start which this declaration caused them to make.

"Sire," said the chancellor, quietly, "princes are not assassinated these days.Our worry is perhaps all needless.The prince is young, and sometimes youth flings off the bridle and runs away.But he loves her Highness, and the Carnavians are not fickle."The prelate and the statesman had different ideas in regard to the peasant girl.To the prelate a woman was an unknown quantity, and he frowned.The statesman, who had once been young, knew a deal about woman, and he smiled.

同类推荐
  • 人间词话

    人间词话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 送傅管记赴蜀军

    送傅管记赴蜀军

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 雷峰塔

    雷峰塔

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 声律发蒙

    声律发蒙

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 九天应元雷声普化天尊玉枢宝经集注

    九天应元雷声普化天尊玉枢宝经集注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 妙手仁心医情伤

    妙手仁心医情伤

    本书作者以专治感情问题的情医身份,从心理层面对现代男女婚恋过程中遭遇的典型问题进行分析,并给出解决这类问题的方法。
  • 蓝色构想

    蓝色构想

    海洋是全球生命支系统的组成部分,也是一种有助于实现可持续发展的宝贵财富。中国是陆地大国,也是海洋大国。中国的经济社会发展将越来越多地依赖海洋。本书以“海洋经济、海洋权益、海洋生态、海洋社会”四个专题来研究我国海洋经济社会发展的若干问题。
  • 美女召唤

    美女召唤

    召唤是召唤妖兽...召唤是召唤神兽...大错特错!!!召唤美女,横扫天下!!!
  • 耀世星云

    耀世星云

    王来允许王来承认王来背负整个世界我....不是一个人!
  • 末世猎皇

    末世猎皇

    虫族来袭,末世降临,四阶异能者肖辛重获一世光阴,这次系统在手,结局由我不由天!
  • exo我们二见钟情

    exo我们二见钟情

    我们二见钟情,我们说好不分离,我们说好在一起,我们说好是十三个人,我们天堂地狱一起走。
  • 古今一手泡

    古今一手泡

    2015年,命运的转折点。只是因为,他捡到了一个水晶。三种颜色的水晶,让他发现了一个秘密。从此,一心想要‘隐居’的宅男王赏,开始了他丰富多彩,花儿满天飞,金币滚滚来的生活。每一个宅男成功的背后,都有着无数的——女人!
  • 指点江山笑拥美男

    指点江山笑拥美男

    琼莲本是魔界雪莲仙子入尘历劫;与三界姐妹同入康熙年间;同因才华绝世成为至尊之臣;却从此陷入桃林繁乱的女尊时代;亲情、友情、爱情让她只能在步步惊心的权势之中沉沦……
  • 萌妻爱出逃:老公,请息怒

    萌妻爱出逃:老公,请息怒

    她带着目的接近他,却一步步的走进他的圈套里。随之她无处可逃,连心也跟着一点迷失。她设计了一场没有新娘的婚礼,逃至大洋彼岸,他追随,强制纠缠,“老婆,不管你怎么逃,你都必须尽到你做妻子的义务……”婚后,他狂狷温柔,宠她上天入地。他说给她一个春天,面朝大海,春暖花开。可是有一天,她视为挚友得女人,竟是他深爱的女人。她痛苦难产,他牵着她的手走进婚姻的殿堂。片段一:她华丽回归,一个恶魔宝贝从头而降,牵着她的裙摆到他的跟前:“爹地,这是我的新女朋友,怎么样?很漂亮吧!”某人暴走,儿子连老子的女人都敢抢,这是要逆天吗?
  • 传奇李天赐

    传奇李天赐

    在人类家园面临毁灭的那一刻,一个现代人穿越回到过去拯救这个世界的故事。我们每一个人,在我们抬头向上看的那个天上都对应一颗星星或尘埃,凡夫俗子,天空之上与之对应的会是一粒微小的不能再微小的尘埃,越是平凡,天空之上对应的尘埃就越是渺小,伟人圣人,天空之上与之对应的则会是一颗我们肉眼看得见的闪闪发光的星星,越是不平凡,天空之上对应的那颗星星就会越大,它发出的光芒就越是夺目和刺眼。