The Prisoner of Zenda Anthony Hope (read e book TXT) š
- Author: Anthony Hope
Book online Ā«The Prisoner of Zenda Anthony Hope (read e book TXT) šĀ». Author Anthony Hope
The enterprise of the kingās rescue being thus prosperously concluded, it lay on Colonel Sapt to secure secrecy as to the king ever having been in need of rescue. Antoinette de Mauban and Johann the keeper (who, indeed, was too much hurt to be wagging his tongue just now) were sworn to reveal nothing; and Fritz went forth to findā ānot the king, but the unnamed friend of the king, who had lain in Zenda and flashed for a moment before the dazed eyes of Duke Michaelās servants on the drawbridge. The metamorphosis had happened; and the king, wounded almost to death by the attacks of the gaolers who guarded his friend, had at last overcome them, and rested now, wounded but alive, in Black Michaelās own room in the castle. There he had been carried, his face covered with a cloak, from the cell; and thence orders issued, that if his friend were found, he should be brought directly and privately to the king, and that meanwhile messengers should ride at full speed to Tarlenheim, to tell Marshall Strakencz to assure the princess of the kingās safety and to come himself with all speed to greet the king. The princess was enjoined to remain at Tarlenheim, and there await her cousinās coming or his further injunctions. Thus the king would come to his own again, having wrought brave deeds, and escaped, almost by a miracle, the treacherous assault of his unnatural brother.
This ingenious arrangement of my long-headed old friend prospered in every way, save where it encountered a force that often defeats the most cunning schemes. I mean nothing else than the pleasure of a woman. For, let her cousin and sovereign send what command he chose (or Colonel Sapt chose for him), and let Marshal Strakencz insist as he would, the Princess Flavia was in no way minded to rest at Tarlenheim while her lover lay wounded at Zenda; and when the marshal, with a small suite, rode forth from Tarlenheim on the way to Zenda, the princessās carriage followed immediately behind, and in this order they passed through the town, where the report was already rife that the king, going the night before to remonstrate with his brother, in all friendliness, for that he held one of the kingās friends in confinement in the castle, had been most traitorously set upon; that there had been a desperate conflict; that the duke was slain with several of his gentlemen; and that the king, wounded as he was, had seized and held the Castle of Zenda. All of which talk made, as may be supposed, a mighty excitement: and the wires were set in motion, and the tidings came to Strelsau only just after orders had been sent thither to parade the troops and overawe the dissatisfied quarters of the town with a display of force.
Thus the Princess Flavia came to Zenda. And as she drove up the hill, with the marshal riding by the wheel and still imploring her to return in obedience to the kingās orders, Fritz von Tarlenheim, with the prisoner of Zenda, came to the edge of the forest. I had revived from my swoon, and walked, resting on Fritzās arm; and looking out from the cover of the trees, I saw the princess. Suddenly understanding from a glance at my companionās face that we must not meet her, I sank on my knees behind a clump of bushes. But there was one whom we had forgotten, but who followed us, and was not disposed to let slip the chance of earning a smile and maybe a crown or two; and, while we lay hidden, the little farm girl came by us and ran to the princess, curtseying and crying:
āMadame, the king is hereā āin the bushes! May I guide you to him, madame?ā
āNonsense, child!ā said old Strakencz; āthe king lies wounded in the castle.ā
āYes, sir, heās wounded, I know; but heās thereā āwith Count Fritzā āand not at the castle,ā she persisted.
āIs he in two places, or are there two kings?ā asked Flavia, bewildered. āAnd how should he be there?ā
āHe pursued a gentleman, madame, and they fought till Count Fritz came; and the other gentleman took my fatherās horse from me and rode away; but the king is here with Count Fritz. Why, madame, is there another man in Ruritania like the king?ā
āNo, my child,ā said Flavia softly (I was told it afterwards), and she smiled and gave the girl money. āI will go and see this gentleman,ā and she rose to alight from the carriage.
But at this moment Sapt came riding from the castle, and, seeing the princess, made the best of a bad job, and cried to her that the king was well tended and in no danger.
āIn the castle?ā she asked.
āWhere else, madame?ā said he, bowing.
āBut this girl says he is yonderā āwith Count Fritz.ā
Sapt turned his eyes on the child with an incredulous smile.
āEvery fine gentleman is a king to such,ā
Comments (0)