CHAPTER XIXA DECLARATION OF WAR
Thefollowing morning the Kaiser, after a long conversation with General von Bernerstauf, sent for the Franconian Chancellor, and was closeted with him for nearly an hour. At the close of the interview, which was kept secret from the whole Court, Von Sigismark took his way with a deeply anxious air to the Princess Hermengarde’s apartments.
Shortly afterwards the departure of the Kaiser was announced. He was accompanied by Maximilian to the railway, but a visible change had come over his demeanour towards the King, and they parted on far less cordial terms than they had met on the day before.
The next day or two the Court was occupied in settling down after the festivities. Hermengarde noted, with some apprehension, that the King had ceased to pay open attention to Dorothea, and she went so far as to sound her delicately on the subject. But Dorothea, considering Maximilian’s confidence as sacred, refused to say anything definite to her mistress about what had passed.
Still she revealed enough to make the Princess fear for the success of her plans founded on the King’s infatuation for Dorothea, and she consequently sent for the Chancellor time after time, and held long conferences with him which led to no immediate result.
Things might have remained in this position for some time, had not the catastrophe suddenly been brought on by the action of the revolutionary party in the capital.
Emboldened by the release of all the prisoners arrested the previous week, and by the rumours which began to gain ground that the King had been induced by Johann to interfere in their favour, the leaders of the agitation suddenly issued a manifesto calling upon the whole of the working classes throughout Franconia to hold simultaneous demonstrations in Mannhausen and all the other large towns of the kingdom, on a certain day, to demand various points in the Socialist programme. The moment a copy of this manifesto was brought to the Minister of the Interior he set off in haste for Seidlingen, to lay it before the Chancellor.
The electric wire had already conveyed some intimation to the Count of the events transpiring in Mannhausen, and Herr Moritz found his chief in a state of the utmost alarm and dejection.
“It has come at last,” he said, “as we might have anticipated. If we let this demonstration take place it is all over with the government. These men are deliberately challenging us, and any appearance of weakness on our part will be the signal for open rebellion.”
“I fear you are right,” responded the younger Minister. “I have reason to know that the state of feeling in Mannhausen is most dangerous. The law-abiding classes are fast becoming terrorised. They hear on all sides that the King is in sympathy with the revolutionists, and they are losing all confidence in the protection of the government.”
“We must see the King at once,” said the Chancellor, “and insist on his authorising us to prevent these meetings by force. Failing that—”
He hesitated and glanced at his colleague.
“Whatever action you may decide upon, Herr Count, you may rely upon my support,” said the other, eagerly. “I even think it right to let you know that his Majesty has sounded me to ascertain if I should be willing to replace you in the Chancellorship, and that I informed him that I could not listen to any such proposals.”
The old Chancellor clenched his hands with rage.
“God in Heaven! And this is the man whom I have been trying to save all this time! That is how he repays my devotion, is it! Come, it is time to act.”
And he led the way out of the room and towards the royal cabinet.
At this very moment, as it happened, the King was engaged with Johann and Bernal in discussing the revolutionary manifesto.
Johann had come, full of confidence, to enlist the King’s sympathy for the demonstration, but had found his efforts strenuously, and even bitterly, opposed byAuguste, who insisted that the Socialists were not justified in seeking to force Maximilian’s hand, and that it would be a fatal mistake on the King’s part to appear to yield to violence.
Maximilian, whose keenly sensitive nature was still smarting from the taunts to which he had listened at the Socialist meeting, considered himself bound in honour not to offer any official resistance to the revolutionists. He listened to his friend’s remonstrances at first with mildness, but finally became impatient, and closed the discussion by saying, in impatient tones—
“I have passed my word, and I cannot go back from it. If these men think they can help on their cause by such means better than by waiting for me to act, they are entitled to their opinion, and I have no right to withstand them. As Herr Mark told me that day in the gallery, I must either accomplish something myself, or stand aside for those who will. I have not succeeded in doing anything up to the present, and this is the natural result.”
“I am sorry you take such a view,” responded the musician. “I have given you my advice, the advice, not of a politician, but of a personal friend whose only aim is your own good. I hope you will not live to regret having refused to listen to me.”
And with these harsh words he went out of the cabinet, leaving Maximilian much distressed. Immediately afterwards the two Ministers were announced.
“Now we shall have a tough fight of it,” remarkedthe King with a sigh, to Johann, “but you will see I shall not give way.”
The Ministers were shown in, and respectfully greeted their master. Johann, the Chancellor noticed with a contemptuous nod; his colleague, not at all.
“I think I know what you have come about, gentlemen,” said the King, trying to assume an air of cheerful indifference.
For answer the old Count slowly unfolded the manifesto, and laid it in front of Maximilian.
“Yes, I have just been hearing about this. The working men are going to hold some meetings to discuss the very topics which I put before you the last time we held a consultation. There is nothing very formidable in that.”
“Pardon me, Sire,” said the Chancellor, gravely, “but my colleague and I regard it as most formidable. We regard it, and it is intended by the promoters to be regarded, as a declaration of war against your government. If successful it will be undoubtedly, as we are informed, followed up by an outbreak of armed rebellion.”
“Oh, come, gentlemen, I think you take it too seriously. It will be time enough to deal with the armed rebellion when it comes. This is simply a question of peaceful demonstrations, such as I understand are permitted in every other country of Europe, except Russia.”
“I greatly fear you have been misled as to the character of these meetings, Sire,” answered the Count,with a hostile glance towards Johann, who sat listening with a confident smile which irritated the Minister beyond measure. “My colleague here, who has this minute arrived from Mannhausen, tells me that the utmost terror prevails there, and the citizens are in daily expectation of a revolt. Your Majesty, I am certain, would not wish to hear that your capital was in flames, and the dwellings of your loyal subjects given over to pillage by a ruffianly mob.”
Johann made an impatient movement. The King checked him by a gesture full of dignity.
“Moderate your language, if you please, my lord Chancellor. I have already had to make that request to you once; do not let me have to do so again. It is you who are really responsible for this manifesto. Had you lent a more willing ear to the proposals of Herr Mark, and allowed it to be seen that my government was preparing measures for the removal of social grievances, we should never have heard of this. But you raised objections, you asked for delay, you assured me that there was no real discontent among the people; and, as a consequence, these people have had to take action for themselves. And now,” continued Maximilian, raising his voice, and speaking with a sternness which fairly cowed the old Chancellor—“and now you come to me, and tell me in effect that all your former assurances were untrue, and that the capital is seething with discontent, and about to break out in open revolt against you. I cannot trust you, sir. You have misled me, and I will bolster you up no longer. If you have no betterplan for meeting the just complaints of my subjects than breaking up peaceful meetings and cramming the gaols with prisoners”—here he included Herr Moritz in an angry glance—“then in Heaven’s name let them rebel! God helping me, I will not interfere. You may retire.”
The two Ministers arose, pale and trembling, and withdrew without a word.
Johann advanced towards Maximilian.
“Sire, you are worthy to be a king! I release you from your parole. Henceforth I trust you as I would myself.”
Once outside the door the Chancellor and his colleague stood still, gazing at each other in consternation.
“You are right,” murmured Herr Moritz at length. “It is time to act.”
“And I will act,” was the answer. “Come this way.”
And he led his colleague into the presence of the Princess Hermengarde.
As soon as she caught sight of their grave and anxious faces, Hermengarde knew that the decisive moment for which she had so impatiently waited was come at last. Concealing her gratification as decently as she could, she received the two Ministers graciously, and gave orders that no one should be admitted to interrupt their conference.
Von Sigismark came directly to the point.
“We have come, Madam, under a sense of the heaviestresponsibility to inform you that, in our opinion, his Majesty, King Maximilian is no longer capable of governing. In the interests of the dynasty and of the Kingdom of Franconia it is necessary that his person should be put under restraint, and a regent appointed to exercise the royal authority.”
This fatal declaration, thus formally conveyed in the cold official words of the Chancellor, affected the Princess like the touch of a block of ice. She trembled, and the full gravity of the situation rose before her mind.
It was some little time before she answered—
“Your announcement does not take me by surprise. For some time past I have been reluctantly driven to the same conclusion. Though I regard my nephew with the most tender affection, I cannot shut my eyes to the fact that his conduct has not of late been that of a sane man.”
The two conspirators, who had been plotting with this end in view for so long, exchanged these sentences with a lofty seriousness which seemed born of the crisis. It was as if they were conducting a solemn rehearsal for the benefit of an audience.
It was the Count’s turn to resume.
“Under these circumstances it becomes my duty to summon a secret meeting of the Privy Council of Franconia without delay, to take its instructions in the crisis, and I venture to ask your consent to appear before the Council in person, and acquaint it with your views, to which the utmost weight will naturally be attached by the Councillors.”
The Princess interposed a question.
“You consider it necessary to call the Council together before adopting any measures with regard to the King’s person?”
“Undoubtedly, Madam. In a matter of such terrible gravity I dare not act on my own responsibility. It is not as if there had been any violent outbreak of mania which would justify Dr. Krauss in ordering the immediate restraint of his Majesty.”
“I quite see your position. With reference to the Doctor—I suppose you will consult him before summoning the Council?”
“I must do so. It is indispensable that he should be brought to modify his views on the King’s state of health. I understand that he is still secretly in the Castle.”
“Yes. I requested him not to leave the Court for the present. Do you anticipate that it will be easy to induce him to change his opinion?”
“I do not doubt that you and I together, Madam, will be able to convince him that it is necessary for the public safety that he should.”
Hermengarde bowed silently, with a look which showed that she understood the meaning underlying the Minister’s words.
“In addition,” he pursued, “I have the written authority of the Kaiser for the step which we propose to take. I ascertained from Dr. Krauss some time ago, on the occasion when we last consulted him, in fact, that the Kaiser’s authority would have great weight with him.”
The Princess looked much relieved.
“The Doctor’s assistance will be the more necessary,” said Herr Moritz, speaking for the first time, “because we shall have to contend, of course, with the determined opposition of the King’s personal intimates.”
Hermengarde looked at him with a slight touch of contempt.
“I should not have thought that the opposition of Herr Mark would have counted for very much,” she remarked sarcastically.
“I was thinking rather of Herr Bernal,” replied the Minister. “He is a man of great eminence, of a European reputation, in fact, and he might rouse public opinion in the King’s favour to a dangerous extent. And there is also the confidential servant, Karl Fink.”
“Fink can be bought,” replied the Princess, calmly. “He has been in my pay for a considerable time. And I do not think Herr Bernal’s opposition will be quite so formidable as you expect. He has been greatly alienated by the King’s sudden friendship for this new man; and, in short, I think you may leave Herr Bernal in my hands.”
The two men glanced at each other in astonishment. Hermengarde was flattered by the effect she had produced.
“But you have not told me,” she resumed, turning to Von Sigismark, “how you intend to deal with the question of the Regency.”
“The ordinary course would be for the Regency to go to the heir of the throne, Prince Ernest Leopold.He being a minor, it will be the duty of the Privy Council to nominate a Regent till the Prince comes of age. I have no doubt that the choice will fall upon your Royal Highness.”
The Princess could not restrain a gratified smile.
“In that case I hope I shall be privileged to retain your assistance in the position you have filled so long and so ably. And I also trust that Herr Moritz will consent to give my government the benefit of his high abilities.”
Von Sigismark simply bowed. His colleague murmured a few words of thanks.
“But there is another matter, of a more personal nature, on which I am anxious to arrive at an understanding with you, Count,” the Princess was continuing, when she stopped, warned by a significant glance from the Chancellor.
The latter turned to his subordinate.
“As we have finished dealing with State affairs, perhaps the Princess will allow you to withdraw to my room. I shall be with you in a very few minutes.”
Herr Moritz promptly retired, and the Count turned to Hermengarde.
“I thought you might possibly intend to mention some matter on which I have not yet taken Herr Moritz into my confidence,” he explained. “I do not consult him about everything, though he is a very worthy man. I believe he is much attached to my daughter.”
Hermengarde gave a slight inclination of her head.She understood why the younger Minister had been dismissed.
“Your discretion is perfect, my dear Chancellor,” she said, falling into a more familiar tone. “I was about to refer to your daughter. Since I last spoke to you on the subject my son has manifested a decided partiality for her, and I am inclined to think she is not quite indifferent to it. Supposing the arrangements we have just been discussing are successfully carried out, is there any reason why we should stand in the way of these young people’s happiness?”
It was the second time that the tempting suggestion had been held out to the old courtier. And this time he did not reject it.
“Madam, I should be unworthy of the great honour you do me if I pretended any longer that such an alliance would not be the greatest gratification to which I could possibly aspire. My daughter’s feelings are known to me, and I can only say that if the Prince should honour her with his hand he will find in her a wife whose devotion to him may perhaps atone in some measure for her inferiority in rank.”
He kissed the Princess’s hand with every demonstration of respect, and withdrew.
“At last,” muttered Hermengarde to herself, as she rose and feverishly paced the room. “At last the goal is within reach. All along I have felt a lurking distrust of that old man, but now, thanks to his daughter, I have conquered him, and my triumph is secure.”
The Chancellor took his way thoughtfully to hisown apartments. The part he had to play became more difficult at every moment. He was not blind to the secret of Herr Moritz’s devotion to his interests, and he was not ill pleased to find his daughter bearing Moritz company when he arrived on the scene. He even affected to joke with the young Minister on the subject. In truth, the old Count felt a real affection for hisprotégé, and, in spite of his plebeian origin, had secretly destined him for his own successor in the Chancellorship.
But all other projects had to yield for the present to the great business in hand. For some time the Chancellor hesitated whether to let his daughter into the secret; but finally, concluding that her ignorance of what was going forward might lead to greater dangers than her knowledge, he decided to take her into his confidence.
As soon as Herr Moritz had left them together, therefore, he proceeded to enlighten her. Although Gertrude had been aware that some serious intrigue was on foot between the Princess Hermengarde and her father, she had never dreamt of the real issues involved, and was thunderstruck at learning that the King was to be declared mad. The first exclamation which rose to her lips disconcerted her father—
“But he is no more mad than I am!”
“Hush! He may not be mad in the sense that an ordinary person is said to be mad when he believes that he is the Archangel Gabriel, or that his bones are made of glass. But the King’s madness is far more dangerous. He believes that it is his duty to promotea bloody revolution in his own kingdom. The welfare of five millions of people is at stake, and for their sakes he must be deprived of his tremendous power for harm.”
Gertrude did not require much convincing, and she listened greedily while her father repeated to her the offer of the Prince’s hand.
“Do not build upon it overmuch,” he warned her, in conclusion. “The Princess is a dangerous and deceitful woman, and I do not trust her to the extent that she supposes. This offer is very probably a mere decoy, intended to secure my support in the matter of the Regency. Of course it is necessary that we should affect to believe in her good faith, but at the same time there is no need to alienate old friends whom we may be glad to fall back upon afterwards.”
He glanced at the chair which had just been occupied by Herr Moritz, and Gertrude understood.
That night a telegram arrived at Seidlingen directed to King Maximilian and marked “Private.”
It was delivered unopened into the King’s hands. He removed the envelope, and read the following message—
“Allow me to respectfully urge your Majesty to prohibit the Socialist demonstrations at once, or consequences will follow which it will be too late to avert. Your loving subject and kinsman,“Friedrich von Eisenheim.”
“Allow me to respectfully urge your Majesty to prohibit the Socialist demonstrations at once, or consequences will follow which it will be too late to avert. Your loving subject and kinsman,
“Friedrich von Eisenheim.”
It was the first time he had heard from the recluse since his accession to the throne.