"Yes.And the drawbridge is drawn back at night, and of that, too, the duke holds the key, so that it cannot be run across the moat without application to him.""And where do you sleep?"
"In the entrance hall of the chateau, with five servants.""Armed?"
"They have pikes, sir, but no firearms.The duke will not trust them with firearms."Then at last I took the matter boldly in my hands.I had failed once at "Jacob's Ladder;" I should fail again there.I must make the attack from the other side.
"I have promised you twenty thousand crowns," said I.
"You shall have fifty thousand if you will do what I ask of you tomorrow night.But, first, do those servants know who your prisoner is?""No, sir.They believe him to be some private enemy of the duke's.""And they would not doubt that I am the King?""How should they?" he asked.
"Look to this, then.Tomorrow, at two in the morning exactly, fling open the front door of the chateau.Don't fail by an instant.""Shall you be there, sir?"
"Ask no questions.Do what I tell you.Say the hall is close, or what you will.That is all I ask of you.""And may I escape by the door, sir, when I have opened it?""Yes, as quick as your legs will carry you.One thing more.
Carry this note to madame--oh, it's in French, you can't read it--and charge her, for the sake of all our lives, not to fail in what it orders."The man was trembling but I had to trust to what he had of courage and to what he had of honesty.I dared not wait, for I feared that the King would die.
When the fellow was gone, I called Sapt and Fritz to me, and unfolded the plan that I had formed.Sapt shook his head over it.
"Why can't you wait?" he asked.
"The King may die."
"Michael will be forced to act before that.""Then," said I, "the King may live."
"Well, and if he does?"
"For a fortnight?" I asked simply.
And Sapt bit his moustache.
Suddenly Fritz von Tarlenheim laid his hand on my shoulder.
"Let us go and make the attempt," said he.
"I mean you to go--don't be afraid," said I.
"Ay, but do you stay here, and take care of the princess."A gleam came into old Sapt's eye.
"We should have Michael one way or the other then," he chuckled;"whereas if you go and are killed with the King, what will become of those of us who are left?""They will serve Queen Flavia," said I, "and I would to God I could be one of them."A pause followed.Old Sapt broke it by saying sadly, yet with an unmeant drollery that set Fritz and me laughing:
"Why didn't old Rudolf the Third marry your--great-grandmother, was it?""Come," said I, "it is the King we are thinking about.""It is true," said Fritz.
"Moreover," I went on, "I have been an impostor for the profit of another, but I will not be one for my own; and if the King is not alive and on his throne before the day of betrothal comes, I will tell the truth, come what may.""You shall go, lad," said Sapt.
Here is the plan I had made.A strong party under Sapt's command was to steal up to the door of the chateau.If discovered prematurely, they were to kill anyone who found them--with their swords, for I wanted no noise of firing.If all went well, they would be at the door when Johann opened it.They were to rush in and secure the servants if their mere presence and the use of the King's name were not enough.
At the same moment--and on this hinged the plan--a woman's cry was to ring out loud and shrill from Antoinette de Mauban's chamber.
