"
"It's gospel truth," he said--"thanks to my advice you could."
"I could marry the princess, and send Michael and his brother together
to--"
"I'm not denying it, lad," said he.
"Then, in God's name," I cried, stretching out my hands to him, "let us
go to Zenda and crush this Michael and bring the King back to his own
again." The old fellow stood and looked at me for full a minute.
"And the princess?" he said.
I bowed my head to meet my hands, and crushed the rose between my
fingers and my lips.
I felt his hand on my shoulder, and his voice sounded husky as he
whispered low in my ear:
"Before God, you're the finest Elphberg of them all. But I have eaten
of the King's bread, and I am the King's servant. Come, we will go to
Zenda!"
And I looked up and caught him by the hand. And the eyes of both of us
were wet.
CHAPTER 11
Hunting a Very Big Boar
The terrible temptation which was assailing me will now be understood.
I could so force Michael's hand that he must kill the King. I was in a
position to bid him defiance and tighten my grasp on the crown--not for
its own sake, but because the King of Ruritania was to wed the Princess
Flavia. What of Sapt and Fritz? Ah! but a man cannot be held to write
down in cold blood the wild and black thoughts that storm his brain when
an uncontrolled passion has battered a breach for them.
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