The Shadow of the Czar

dsome young captain is brought into companionship with a youthful woman, whose intellect charms even more than her beauty; and when the pa

he nor Paul had any valid excuse for remaining longer at Castel Nuovo; n

ming at his nephew's protracted absence; and Barbara on her part seemed to have forgott

e delicious spirit of dolce far niente,

to Paul and Barbara, mountains, sea, air, sky, had become steeped in hues

d not last forever, but its end they put far from their thoughts. The

the thought of the Master's return gave him some un

y. "I should like to see his face wh

hat she has risen from th

Cressingham, who will know how to de

led Barbara very little, if at all. Jacintha had brought her back to life; Jacintha was as good as gold; Barbara, fi

The stateliness and gravity that had marked her bearing on the first night of

se, over which the tide flowed, formed an ideal bathing place.

me now?" she would remark as she returned to breakfast, laughi

et liberty, and Jacintha could scarcely believe her own eyes, when one day, attracted by the sounds of sweet laughter and of ringing steel proceeding from an adjoining apar

wonder?" tho

sence, and had begun to doubt whether five hundred beshliks could procure in the mart of Janina a maiden in all respects li

ught for the freedom of a conquered race, and she herself, as i

in. Sitting on a low stool at his feet, and resting her elbows on her lap and her chin on her hands, her hair sometimes falling in dusky

occasion, "was the freedom of Hellas won. Why sh

u are of Polish bl

ud of my na

sake that your p

ause you said it, men have come to believe it. No, no, it is not true. The greenstone sceptre of Poland may lie in the treasury of the Kremlin broken in halves, but the spirit of the Polish people is not broken. Would that I had

ssinate old Capo d'Istria because he was too much under Russi

for Barbara, who had never seen the Greek

s into the air he went through all the flings and evolutions of the Roma?ka with an

ambro in his youth?" he cried, wh

r of command, that as Lambro had done something to

h," at that time not so hackneyed a ballad as now, and probably never before heard in the hall of a Dalmat

h in it?" she aske

eturned Paul, proceeding to relate

cealment than an oaken chest. Now," she added, prompted by a playful impulse, "give me a clear start o

ghing eyes and graceful ste

a girl, you se

they allowed a full minute to ela

every place capable of affording concealment. But Barbara wa

gh the building loudly calling her by name, and, proclaiming thems

begun to lose its humorous side. The death-like silence, Barbara's invisibility, the gra

gone outside,

ep within the build

r search on the highest landing of the staircase. Here t

concealed here,"

o, pointing to the wax. "The

ing from the chamber in which the signo

as instantly made evident by Lambro's manner. He turned so sava

n't keep your

cate the woman. "Jacintha has told me no

ptly and placed h

I can detect a sound within. Signorina, are

mined by a light that came and went in a

ry of "Oh!"-plainly the voice of Barbara; a dull thud as of

himself against the door, bruising his

strong. We must go downstairs. The signorina must hav

at the circular piece of violet-colored wax was traversed by a horizontal fracture, clearly caused by the moving of the panel. Lambro, who had followed close

feet off. At the top of that another to the right. Mo

staircase, but so it was. He remained in the bedroom by the o

ered-it!" said Jacinth

s not our doing, nor the Mast

the heart to my mouth. It reminded me of that other

w can I listen while

ircases, and passing through a square opening in a panelled wall similar

n the floor in

tment, but failed to discern anything in i

a sitting posture, and passing his left arm

e opening. It was the first time he had addressed her by her Christian name; the

!" sh

ause of her fear the life-size portrait of a man hanging upo

trange in the atmosphere of this room, something that I can

carried her down the secret stairway, through the bedchamber, past the wondering L

f in his arms, apparently not giving the matter a

stimulant administered by Jacintha. "There is a

Maste

of dismay. "Have I been living all

en?" inquired Paul of Ba

nal Ra

Ravenna? Humph! I have heard him called that by-by so

master, Lambro," said

ugged his shoulders

w explained. But why should the abode of a Roman ecclesiastic contain a lady's bedchamber kept in a state of preparation for an occupant? Paul glanced at Jac

turning to Barbara. "He will learn that some one has

asked Paul of Barbara, and paying but s

story of Ginevra, I thought it would be a piece of fun to hide behind the panel and get you to search for me. While standing there in concealment the impulse came upon me to go forward and explore. I ascended the two staircases, and entered the upper room by a panel which I found open. Till that moment curiosity had been my only feeling, but as soon as I entered the gray twilight of tha

ed me forward and almost made me forget my fears. The portrait was so li

t?" ask

ave never worn. She carries a sceptre in her hand and on her head is a diadem. Who ever saw me

but Paul felt that little relian

rward a sudden gleam illumined the dusky chamber, bringing every line of the portrait into clear relief. I recognized the face of my e

Lambro, with evident relief, a feeli

Paul, fixing a significant look on the P

gs to Cardinal Ravenna?" said B

Jacintha sorrowfully, for she

d appear he will take

hority?" aske

my gu

you to the convent against your will.

in the convent to

o not wish

ing freedom?

ot return," said

ere. I cannot stay lo

and if he should, what matters? For my own part I should very much like to come face to face with the man who proposes to immure you within the walls of a nunnery. He would not find me honey-tongued, though

ords. One day, as Paul had said,

ith self-reproachful smile. "I, who have talked of

from my first battle," observed Lambro, with

the words "dearest Barbara" falling upon her ear. The significance of the expression did not appeal to her at the time, but now the recalling of it caused her heart t

mysterious study. Roof, walls, and flooring were of black oak thick with dust. Every angle had a festoon of cobwebs. On turning the corner of the staircase Paul made his first discovery. For some purpose or other

examination by the light of the lamp, Paul found to be a fragment of delicate lace,-lace of a color, texture, and patt

a herself was turning the staircase, inasmuch as during he

a little article of gold, obviously a seal. It was circular in shape, and the band encircling the stone was inscribed with the motto, "Esse quam

in no way from an ordinary study. It was well lighted and well carpeted. There were numerous shelves with books thereon. There were chairs, a table, and an escritoire. There were oil-paintings on the walls. There was really nothing to alarm one in the aspect of the apartment. Paul d

r, with nothing of the mystic visionary about it; the face of a man of action, a man of ambition, an ecclesiastical statesman of the type of Richelieu or Mazarin. Paul waved the lamp to and fro, trying to educe the wicked ex

and sceptre. The resemblance to Barbara was indeed so marvellous that Paul at first was disposed to believe tha

. The difference was in the expression. This girl had mischievous eyes, an arch smile, a radiant look. It was clearly the face of one leading a happy, u

her figure? Ah! here without doubt was the original wearer of that soft, silky dress which had required no alteration

ber in which Barbara had slept should have been previously occupied by a lady her exact counterpart in

and Jacintha when they first beheld Barbara; they were doubtless

ugh it was difficult to assign a reason for this proceeding. A secret amour was the first idea that suggested itself. But then, a girl with so lovely a face woul

oath imposed upon them by the cardinal,-an oath taken, if Jacintha's words were true, upon the Holy Sacrament itself. It must be a weighty secret to require such s

hout discovering anything of consequence, till, being near the hearth, he happened to glance

oak flooring w