believed--that I was in very truth the King; and, with a look of laughing
triumph, I raised my eyes to the beauty-laden balconies again. . .and then

I started. For, looking down on me, with her handsome face and proud smile,
was the lady who had been my fellow traveller--Antoinette de Mauban;

and I saw her also start, and her lips moved, and she leant forward
and gazed at me. And I, collecting myself, met her eyes full and square,

while again I felt my revolver. Suppose she had cried aloud,
"That's not the King!"

Well, we went by; and then the Marshal, turning round in his saddle,
waved his hand, and the Cuirassiers closed round us, so that the crowd

could not come near me. We were leaving my quarter and entering
Duke Michael's, and this action of the Marshal's showed me more clearly

than words what the state of feeling in the town must be. But if Fate
made me a King, the least I could do was to play the part handsomely.

"Why this change in our order, Marshal?" said I.
The Marshal bit his white moustache.

"It is more prudent, sire," he murmured.
I drew rein.

"Let those in front ride on," said I, "till they are fifty yards ahead.
But do you, Marshal, and Colonel Sapt and my friends, wait here till

I have ridden fifty yards. And see that no one is nearer to me.
I will have my people see that their King trusts them."

Sapt laid his hand on my arm. I shook him off. The Marshal hesitated.
"Am I not understood?" said I; and, biting his moustache again,

he gave the orders. I saw old Sapt smiling into his beard,
but he shook his head at me. If I had been killed in open day

in the streets of Strelsau, Sapt's position would have been a difficult one.
Perhaps I ought to say that I was dressed all in white, except my boots.

I wore a silver helmet with gilt ornaments, and the broad ribbon of the Rose
looked well across my chest. I should be paying a poor compliment to the King

if I did not set modesty aside and admit that I made a very fine figure.
So the people thought; for when I, riding alone, entered the dingy,

sparsely decorated, sombre streets of the Old Town, there was first
a murmur, then a cheer, and a woman, from a window above a cookshop,

cried the old local saying:
"If he's red, he's right!" whereat I laughed and took off my helmet

that she might see that I was of the right colour and they cheered
me again at that.

It was more interesting riding thus alone, for I heard
the comments of the crowd.

"He looks paler than his wont," said one.
"You'd look pale if you lived as he does," was the

highly disrespectful retort.
"He's a bigger man than I thought," said another.

"So he had a good jaw under that beard after all," commented a third.
"The pictures of him aren't handsome enough," declared a pretty girl,

taking great care that I should hear. No doubt it was mere flattery.
But, in spite of these signs of approval and interest,

the mass of the people received me in silence and with sullen looks,
and my dear brother's portrait ornamented most of the windows--

which was an ironical sort of greeting to the King. I was quite glad
that he had been spared the unpleasant sight. He was a man of quick temper,

and perhaps he would not have taken it so placidly as I did.
At last we were at the Cathedral. Its great grey front,

embellished with hundreds of statues and boasting a pair of the
finest oak doors in Europe, rose for the first time before me,

and the sudden sense of my audacity almost overcame me.
Everything was in a mist as I dismounted. I saw the Marshal

and Sapt dimly, and dimly the throng of gorgeously robed priests
who awaited me. And my eyes were still dim as I walked up

the great nave, with the pealing of the organ in my ears.
I saw nothing of the brilliantthrong that filled it,

I hardly distinguished the stately figure of the Cardinal
as he rose from the archiepiscopal throne to greet me.

Two faces only stood out side by side clearly before my eyes--
the face of a girl, pale and lovely, surmounted by a crown

of the glorious Elphberg hair (for in a woman it is glorious),
and the face of a man, whose full-blooded red cheeks, black hair,

and dark deep eyes told me that at last I was in presence of my brother,
Black Michael. And when he saw me his red cheeks went pale all in a moment,

and his helmet fell with a clatter on the floor. Till that moment I believe
that he had not realized that the King was in very truth come to Strelsau.

Of what followed next I remember nothing. I knelt before the
altar and the Cardinal anointed my head. Then I rose to my feet,

and stretched out my hand and took from him the crown of Ruritania
and set it on my head, and I swore the old oath of the King;

and (if it were a sin, may it be forgiven me) I received
the Holy Sacrament there before them all. Then the great organ

pealed out again, the Marshal bade the heralds proclaim me,
and Rudolf the Fifth was crowned King; of which imposing ceremony

an excellent picture hangs now in my dining-room.
The portrait of the King is very good.

Then the lady with the pale face and the glorious hair,
her train held by two pages, stepped from her place

and came to where I stood. And a herald cried:
"Her Royal Highness the Princess Flavia!"

She curtsied low, and put her hand under mine and raised my hand
and kissed it. And for an instant I thought what I had best do.

Then I drew her to me and kissed her twice on the cheek,
and she blushed red, and--then his Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop

slipped in front of Black Michael, and kissed my hand and presented me
with a letter from the Pope--the first and last which I have received

from that exalted quarter!
And then came the Duke of Strelsau. His step trembled, I swear,

and he looked to the right and to the left, as a man looks who thinks
on flight; and his face was patched with red and white, and his hand

shook so that it jumped under mine, and I felt his lips dry and parched.
And I glanced at Sapt, who was smiling again into his beard, and,

resolutely doing my duty in that station of life to which
I had been marvellously called, I took my dear Michael

by both hands and kissed him on the cheek. I think we
were both glad when that was over!

But neither in the face of the princess nor in that of any other
did I see the least doubt or questioning. Yet, had I and the King

stood side by side, she could have told us in an instant, or, at least,
on a little consideration. But neither she nor anyone else dreamed

or imagined that I could be other than the King. So the likeness served,
and for an hour I stood there, feeling as weary and blase as though

I had been a king all my life; and everybody kissed my hand,
and the ambassadors paid me their respects, among them old Lord Topham,

at whose house in Grosvenor Square I had danced a score of times.
Thank heaven, the old man was as blind as a bat, and did not claim

my acquaintance.
Then back we went through the streets to the Palace, and I heard them

cheering Black Michael; but he, Fritz told me, sat biting his nails
like a man in a reverie, and even his own friends said that he

should have made a braver show. I was in a carriage now,
side by side with the Princess Flavia, and a rough fellow cried out:

"And when's the wedding?" and as he spoke another struck
him in the face, crying "Long live Duke Michael!" and the

princess coloured--it was an admirable tint--and looked
straight in front of her.

Now I felt in a difficulty, because I had forgotten to ask Sapt
the state of my affections, or how far matters had gone between

the princess and myself. Frankly, had I been the King,
the further they had gone the better should I have been pleased.

For I am not a slow-blooded man, and I had not kissed Princess
Flavia's cheek for nothing. These thoughts passed through my head,

but, not being sure of my ground, I said nothing; and in a moment
or two the princess, recovering her equanimity, turned to me.

"Do you know, Rudolf," said she, "you look somehow different today?"
The fact was not surprising, but the remark was disquieting.

"You look," she went on, "more sober, more sedate; you're almost careworn,
and I declare you're thinner. Surely it's not possible that you've begun

to take anything seriously?"
The princess seemed to hold of the King much the same opinion that

Lady Burlesdon held of me.
I braced myself up to the conversation.

"Would that please you?" I asked softly,
"Oh, you know my views," said she, turning her eyes away.

"Whatever pleases you I try to do," I said; and, as I saw her
smile and blush, I thought that I was playing the King's hand

very well for him. So I continued and what I said was perfectly true:
"I assure you, my dear cousin, that nothing in my life has affected

me more than the reception I've been greeted with today."
She smiled brightly, but in an instant grew grave again, and whispered:

"Did you notice Michael?"
"Yes," said I, adding, "he wasn't enjoying himself."

"Do be careful!" she went on. "You don't--indeed you don't--
keep enough watch on him. You know--"

"I know," said I, "that he wants what I've got."
"Yes. Hush!"

Then--and I can't justify it, for I committed the King far beyond what
I had a right to do--I suppose she carried me off my feet--I went on:

"And perhaps also something which I haven't got yet,
but hope to win some day."

This was my answer. Had I been the King, I should have
thought it encouraging:

"Haven't you enough responsibilities on you for one day, cousin?"
Bang, bang! Blare, blare! We were at the Palace. Guns were

firing and trumpets blowing. Rows of lackeys stood waiting,
and, handing the princess up the broad marble staircase,

I took formal possession, as a crowned King, of the House
of my ancestors, and sat down at my own table, with my cousin

on my right hand, on her other side Black Michael, and on my left
his Eminence the Cardinal. Behind my chair stood Sapt; and at the

end of the table, I saw Fritz von Tarlenheim drain to the bottom
his glass of champagne rather sooner than he decently should.

I wondered what the King of Ruritania was doing.
CHAPTER 6

The Secret of a Cellar
We were in the King's dressing-room--Fritz von Tarlenheim,

Sapt, and I. I flung myself exhausted into an armchair.
Sapt lit his pipe. He uttered no congratulations on the marvellous

success of our wild risk, but his whole bearing was eloquent
of satisfaction. The triumph, aided perhaps by good wine,

had made a new man of Fritz.
"What a day for you to remember!" he cried. "Gad, I'd like to

be King for twelve hours myself! But, Rassendyll, you mustn't
throw your heart too much into the part. I don't wonder Black

Michael looked blacker than ever--you and the princess had so
much to say to one another."

"How beautiful she is!" I exclaimed.
"Never mind the woman," growled Sapt. "Are you ready to start?"

"Yes," said I, with a sigh.
It was five o'clock, and at twelve I should be no more than

Rudolf Rassendyll. I remarked on it in a joking tone.
"You'll be lucky," observed Sapt grimly, "if you're not the

late Rudolf Rassendyll. By Heaven! I feel my head wobbling
on my shoulders every minute you're in the city. Do you know,

friend, that Michael has had news from Zenda? He went into
a room alone to read it--and he came out looking like a man dazed."

"I'm ready," said I, this news making me none the more eager to linger.
Sapt sat down.

"I must write us an order to leave the city. Michael's Governor,
you know, and we must be prepared for hindrances. You must sign the order."

"My dear colonel, I've not been bred a forger!"
Out of his pocket Sapt produced a piece of paper.

"There's the King's signature," he said, "and here," he went on,
after another search in his pocket, "is some tracing paper.

If you can't manage a "Rudolf" in ten minutes, why--I can."

• helmet [´helmit] n.钢盔 (初中英语单词)
• ribbon [´ribən] n.缎带；带子；色带 (初中英语单词)
• cathedral [kə´θi:drəl] n.大教堂 (初中英语单词)
• brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)
• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• proclaim [prə´kleim] vt.宣布；公布；声明 (初中英语单词)
• princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• consideration [kən,sidə´reiʃən] n.考虑；原因；体谅 (初中英语单词)
• carriage [´kæridʒ] n.马车；客车；货运 (初中英语单词)
• frankly [´fræŋkli] ad.直率地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)
• surprising [sə´praiziŋ] a.惊人的；意外的 (初中英语单词)
• marble [´mɑ:bəl] n.大理石 a.大理石的 (初中英语单词)
• formal [´fɔ:məl] a.正式的；外表的 (初中英语单词)
• satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)
• triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• prudent [´pru:dənt] a.谨慎的；精明的 (高中英语单词)
• colonel [´kə:nəl] n.海(陆)军上校 (高中英语单词)
• compliment [´kɔmplimənt] n.敬意 vt.赞美；祝贺 (高中英语单词)
• approval [ə´pru:vəl] n.赞成，批准，认可 (高中英语单词)
• sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)
• portrait [´pɔ:trit] n.肖像；相片；雕像 (高中英语单词)
• unpleasant [ʌn´plezənt] a.不愉快的；不合意的 (高中英语单词)
• throng [θrɔŋ] n.群众 v.拥挤；群集 (高中英语单词)
• distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)
• stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
• clatter [´klætə] n.&v.喧嚷；骚动 (高中英语单词)
• cardinal [´kɑ:dinəl] a.主要的 n.深红色 (高中英语单词)
• herald [´herəld] n.先驱；预兆 vt.预示 (高中英语单词)
• highness [´hainis] n.高，高贵，高尚 (高中英语单词)
• likeness [´laiknis] n.相似；肖像；外表 (高中英语单词)
• admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)
• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
• reception [ri´sepʃən] n.接待；欢迎；招待会 (高中英语单词)
• brightly [´braitli] ad.明亮地；聪明地 (高中英语单词)
• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)
• grimly [´grimli] ad.严厉地；坚强地 (高中英语单词)
• revolver [ri´vɔlvə] n.左轮手枪；旋转者 (英语四级单词)
• marshal [´mɑ:ʃəl] n.(陆军)元帅 (英语四级单词)
• ridden [´ridn] ride 的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• modesty [´mɔdisti] n.谨慎；端庄；羞怯 (英语四级单词)
• whereat [weər´æt] ad.对于...；在这里 (英语四级单词)
• audacity [ɔ:´dæsiti] n.大胆；卤莽；无礼 (英语四级单词)
• overcame [,əuvə´keim] overcome的过去式 (英语四级单词)
• forgiven [fə´givn] forgive的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• biting [´baitiŋ] a.刺痛的；尖利的 (英语六级单词)
• imposing [im´pəuziŋ] a.壮丽的，堂皇的 (英语六级单词)
• eminence [´eminəns] n.杰出；重要人物；高处 (英语六级单词)
• champagne [ʃæm´pein] n.香槟酒；微黄色 (英语六级单词)