The Princess Dehra

ement that ensued, came

didn't think to find

parent that the Archduke

said. "Speak plainly; do you mean to charge m

ess," he said; "just that, since you must ha

to deal with a liar," he answered, "i

assume you will not accuse our dear dead master of having hid the Laws; and since his decease, the key, you admit, has been with only yo

ith Lotzen it was the smiling face that served him best;

ity," he said. "I was not in the Summer Palac

n. "Naturally not; you

fully at his beard, eyeing first one and th

tell us when you last saw t

The only time I ever saw either Book or box was the day

me Lotzen's sneer

g just how to manipulate the key:-'turn

ew tighter; Duval and Marquand frowned; Steuben, with

met the iss

e Council choose. They, too, have seen that key used but once, and yet I ventu

remember your ready wit and cl

urned from him

who is King of Valeria, Ferdinand of Lotzen or myself-and as only the Book of Laws can answer, I ask

Justice aid in the search," he said-"and a

!"-then he turned upon Armand. "I assume you brought the box here," pointing to the table, "and

oor," said the

ng the King never told even me. Observ

d. "No," said he, "I do

yawned for him if he pursued farther, sim

w it too, and had no mind

he door?" he

ss the Princess,"

and of Lotzen, sauntering nonchalantly over to the nearest

e said that, recently, his master had spent many hours in the evenings studying the Laws, going through them with great care, making notations and marking certain pages with slips of paper; that no one else was ever present at such times, and once, when he had unthinkingly approached the desk, the King had angrily bade

and for the Council to assume, that the Book was safely in the box and the box safely in the vault when Frederick died. Don't tr

n until the Duke had finished, then he

f. We cannot wait until the Laws are found. I claim the throne by presumptive right; he, by a right admitted to be subordinate to mine. In the absence of

and resumed his favorite attitude

Laws unmake me I will abdicate when they are recovered-when-they-ar

the Archduke the

hat the Archduke Armand has possession of the Book of Laws and is conceali

stated!"

the Book, and whatever action we do take must be, upon the distinct condition, agreed to, here and now, by you both, that when the Laws are found-as found they surely will be-th

uptly; "but pending election by t

e meditatively for a moment, then

where the play was leading, and the other's next move, and he was

faced th

we know them, to whom shall we confide the government?" and with a bland smile, he l

palling dilemma. He wanted to vote for Lotzen-yet he was sure that Armand would be chosen. If he voted for Armand, he would bear the Duke's everlasting enmity, and, in the end, the Laws or the Nobles might give him the Crown. If he voted for Lotzen, and Armand we

ing, Monsieu

he alone had not noted Retz's embarrassment, having b

right of the eldest male. If, however, by the Laws, he is specifically deprived of that right and made ineligible to the Crown, save under two conditions,

o Epping, and the answer w

situation," he said; "it

new. With the first portion the Council is already familiar, Frederick having quoted it to you the day the Archduke Armand was presented; but of the last sentence, unfortunately, he made no mention; and it is that which governs now. His Royal

. "You can do it with much

l of it or only t

of

ousin mine, with the bitter at the end." Then he tossed the pa

Archduke for permissi

nd whereas he hath never sought aid from us nor sued for pardon; Now, therefore, in recognition of his valour and self reliance and true Dalberg independence, it is decreed, that Section one hundred twenty-one, supra, be annulled; and Hugo's name is hereby reinstated on the Family Roll in its proper place, the same as though n

otzen cut in. "Your pardon, Mo

d a moment in reb

lly decreed so to be-or in event of a vacancy in the royal dignity without s

y III.

September,

rchduke-what would be his answer? There was no doubt that Lotzen had scored

orrectness of the copy and that the

ugged his shoulders) "to wait until I've finished-and my only knowledge of it is from hearing it read by the

w Armand against whom the presumption ran; and it was he, a

Then into the stillness cu

he sneered. "Vale t

e coup de grace, he had saved it until last; yet, to his astonis

that is required to make me eligible to the Crown and to restore me to my proper place

came Lotzen's

died, you mean, co

er turned upon h

id he, "the propriety, under the circumstances, of

at the Council was of the

erstand, I deny the existence of this suspiciously timely decree. As to it,

chduke. "Your Highness has

ave

tell you it

-but he tol

hat ot

ss Royal," sai

and Lotzen, chagrin and anger consuming him, yet smiling

would honor the Council wit

her with your des