TALKING-TALBOT-Chapter-13

“You have broken your oaths ! You have dishonored yourselves!” the princess cried, starting up from her chair. “Monseigneur, what infamy!”

“Sit down, my child,” said the prelate, “and try to be reasonable. No oath has been broken. There was no promise that nothing would happen to you within the grounds.”

“You absolve them?” she gasped incredulously.

“There is nothing to absolve,” he answered, smiling benevolently. He turned to the smiling nobles. “I leave the matter in your hands now.”

The princess stared at them for a moment, then started toward Talbot. Szolnak interposed with outstretched arms. “No, highness; I regret the necessity, but you must have no more to do with him.”

She looked as if she contemplated a struggle. Two of the others placed themselves beside Szolnak. She sank back in her chair, casting a glance at Talbot.

Talbot had not uttered a word as yet. He had been looking about, wondering what would happen next, trying to see some way out of the tangle. He noted that the duke was no longer in the room ; he was sure he saw signs of some definite purpose in the conduct of these men.

“Have good courage, highness,” he said as if in response to her look.

Szolnak whispered to one of his companions, who went out and returned with the lieutenant who had been in charge of the soldiers who had captured them.

“Draw your sword and guard that man, lieutenant. And tell me! Are you one of his highness’ men?”

“Devoted to the death.”

“And if you are ordered to run him through the heart, will you do it without question?”
“If his highness commands it.”

“No, no. no!’* cried the princess, starting up again frantically. “You shall not hurt him ; you shall not !”

“That is a matter which is entirely at your disposal,” the noble said, carefully standing in front of her. “If you will listen to reason nothing shall happen to him; otherwise he shall die as the spy and the traitor he is.”

“What do you wish ?” she faltered.

“You know well what we wish, highness ; you know what the whole country is wishing. There is one thing that will unite the, factions and the people — your marriage with the duke.”

“Oh, no! Oh, no! I cannot! – ‘ she moaned.

“Then you wish this man killed?”

“What? No. no. no! What are you saying? He — he rescued me; he is my champion.”

“He is a foolish meddler,” was the cold response ; “but he shall be sent back to his own country if you will consent to wed the duke.”

“No, no! It is monstrous. Oh. Sir Chester!”

“Refuse, princess.” he said.

“If you do not consent he shall die, and if he dies it will be by jour will, highness.” Szolnak was implacably in earnest.

At this juncture the duke entered the room. All traces of his previous intoxication were gone. He stood in the center of the room and looked triumphantly from the princess to the bound figure of Talbot.

“So.” he said malevolently, “the interfering spy and traitor is in our han/ls. Why is he not disposed of?”

“We are using him in our argument with her highness.”

“And what is the argument?*’ he demanded curtly.

“We are trying to persuade her to consent to her marriage to you, and we are promising that he shall return to his own country if she will consent.”

“Is her consent necessary?” he demanded, red in the face with anger. “Must the welfare of the country wait on the whim of a foolish girl? What do you say. monseigneur ?”

“Her consent is absolutely essential, highness.”

“Then let her decide quickly since this fellow’s life is of such consequence to her. This matter must be settled at once. Time is of the utmost importance.”

Szolnak turned again to the princess, who had listened breathlessly to all that had been said. “Our opinion coincides with that of his highness. You must decide at once. Officer, are you ready?”

The lieutenant, whose face had become very pale during this conversation, turned to the duke and saluted, saying: “At your service, highness.”‘

“Do as the count bids you!” growled the duke.

The lieutenant saluted the Count Szolnak, and faced Talbot with drawn sword. The count once more faced the princess.

She dropped into the chair again, and covered her face with her hands. For a few moments not a sound was to be heard in the room save the heavy breathing of the men who were all tensed with excitement.

The princess let her hands fall into her lap, and looked piteously into the various faces. When they came to Talbot they rested there for a space. “If — if I consent.” she said, “do you swear you will set him free?”

“Yes.”

“Without subterfuge? You — you will keep your oaths this time?”

“You sir he shall word the oath, and we will Take it in the most solemn way monseigneur can devise.”

“Then — then,” she cried wildly. “I ”

“Stop!” shouted Talbot. “Do you think I would accept life at such a price? You shall not do it, princess. Besides, do you believe such sorry tricksters would play fair? They would kill me, anyhow.”

“They will swear to set you free,” she faltered.

“I will so word their oath that there can be no loophole.”‘ said the archbishop.

“You are too clever at the making of oaths,” returned Talbot, with stinging scorn. “Have nothing to do with them, princess. My life is nothing in comparison with your life spent with that sottish brute.”

“What!” roared the duke, fairly purple in the face.

“Let them kill me. I shall count it a small thing if suffered for you. Besides, you cannot trust them ; they are such skillful liars.”

Choking with rage, the duke would have interposed with a furious order to the lieutenant but for the calming hand of Szolnak on his arm.

“Let him talk, highness,” he said. “It is better that he should make every possible representation to the princess in order that what we say and do will have more weight.”

Talbot took him at his word, and went on: “Bear this in mind, princess. My death would be swift and easy; your life would be a prolonged hell with that beast. Be brave for the last time and you will never regret it.”

“I cannot let you die,” she sobbed. “I would live the remainder of my life in agony and remorse. Oh,” she pleaded with Szolnak, “let me go to him, and I will persuade him. I will marry the duke then.”

Szolnak stood aside with a triumphant bow. The princess tottered across the room to Talbot, and stood beside him, supporting herself by the back of his chair.

“You will retire a little way?”‘ she said coaxingly to the lieutenant.

The young man. who was already

trembling with emotion, bowed and went some yards away without even asking by a look for permission from his superiors.

Talbot was. devouring the lovely face of the princess. She followed the movements of the lieutenant, and then looked down into Talbot’s eyes.

“Oh, Sir Chester,” she said softly, sobbing gently all the while, “do not ask me to see you die, to know that a word from me could save you. I know these men ; they are mad with ambition, and would count your life as nothing. I cannot do it. You must live. I will demand to see you set on a horse and given pledges before I will wed him.”

“No,” he said firmly, “I will not consent.”

“But you must. You have done so much for me already, do not stop at such a little thing. If you die I will kill myself. I swear I will. I am a little coward, but I shall have the courage for that. You have been everything to me; you have changed me from a girl without spirit to a woman whose courage grows with every minute she is with you. If you die I die with you. And you know I will keep my word.”

“Little Sonia,” he said, “I could not live and know that you were in the arms of that beast. Perhaps if I — if

I ” He stopped and bit his lip to

keep from going on.

“If you what. Sir Chester?” she asked, bending over him.

“Perhaps if I tell you something you will- let me have my way.”

“I think nothing can make me change my mind,” she answered sadly.

“I have known you such a short time, Sonia; really only a few hours.”

“It seems as if we had always known each other,” she said. <«

"Yes, it seems so to me. 1 am an ordinary man; an American, but in my own country the equal of any other.while you are a princess with royal blood in your veins."

"Such a poor little princess !" she sighed.

"But there is a throne waiting for you; a throne which 1 think may be yours without this marriage with the duke."

"1 don't want a throne. Sir Chester; all I want is to know that you are alive and well."

"But you are a princess and you may be a queen, anil that is why I am guilty of a great presumption."

"Of what are you speaking?" she asked wonderingly.

"I am going to tell you that noble as you are and short as is the time I have known you, I love you."

"You love me?" she breathed softly, and looked into his eyes with an expression of ineffable wonder and joy. "You love me?"

"I can't help it, Sonia."

"Oh," she murmured, "isn't that beautiful! You love me! You the most splendid man in the world, love me !"

He looked into her face and wondered at what he saw there. For the instant both of them forgot the hopelessness of the situation.

"You don't mean, Sonia " he began.

"You love me." she repeated softly, as if overcome by the marvel of such a thing coming into her life.

"And you, Sonia ?" he asked eagerly. "Do you love me?"

"From the first moment, always; now and forever."

"Kiss me, dearest !" he said.

She bent over him, wound her arms about his neck, and pressed his lips with hers.

At this there was a furious outcry and a rush toward them. Sonia was snatched away from him, and the duke, tearing the sword out of the hand of

the young soldier, rushed at Talbot to thrust it through him.

The princess saw his intention sooner than any one else. She broke loose from the men who held her, and threw herself before Talbot.

"You shall not!" she cried passionately. "I love him!"

In his mad fury the duke raised the sword as if he would strike her. Szolnak caught his arm and held it.

"Are you mad. highness?" he said in a low tone. "Are you lighting for a kingdom or for the love of a silly girl ?"

The duke listened, and flung the sword away. Great drops of perspiration broke out on his forehead. He turned away, saying hoarsely: "Make an end of this at once."

The others grouped themselves in front of Sonia as she stood protectingly in front of Talbot. Szolnak looked curiously at her for a moment and then addressed her quietly :

"You said, highness, that if we let you talk with him you would marry the duke. Well, you have talked with him."

She stared at him for a moment as if she were coming back from another world and had quite forgotten the events of this one. The next moment she smiled scornfully.

"If I were like you," she said. "I would remind you that I said that I would marry the duke if 1 could persuade" — she turned and smiled lovingly at Talbot — "if 1 could persuade Sir Chester. 1 could not persuade him. 1 will not even try to persuade him."

"Do you mean " broke in Szolnak.

She made a gesture of silence.

"I mean that he and I will die together if you wish it, but that I will not marry the duke."

"My brave Sonia!" murmured Talbot.

"Oh, I would learn to be so, 1 am sure," she smiled, turning to look at him, "if only there were time."

"Do I understand that you posilively refuse to marry the duke?" demanded Szolnak. "Positively."

"Gentlemen," he said sharply, turning to the other nobles, "I regret to ask you to lay hands on your future queen, but there is no other way. Will you kindly take her away from him?"

As gently as was compatible with the force exerted, two of the nobles dragged her away from Talbot.

Szolnak went to the officer, who, having recovered his ..word, had been watching the scene in amazement, and took his sword from him.

"Please wait outside the door," he said. The officer saluted and left the room.

Szolnak now went over to Talbot with a firm, decided step and opened his coat, inner coat, and waistcoat, and finally his shirt, so that the flesh of his breast was bare.

"Monseigneur," he said, "you know, as we all know, that it is essential "for the good of Hungary that the Princess Sonia Kotorska wed the Duke of Jankovacz. She refuses and lets us know that she loves this man and would rather die with him than do her duty."

"You have stated the case correctly and succinctly,'' replied the archbishop.

"As a patriot,*' Szolnak went on, "I cannot permit the princess to make such a choice; therefore I shall take such steps as will convince her of her error."

The princess had struggled very little when taken from Talbot. She had shuddered when she saw his garments opened to bare his great chest, but she had not moved. Now she gave a cry, broke away, and ran to Talbot, throwing herself upon him.

She had acted without reason, but it seemed to her that she must protect him.

•;What shall I do? What shall I do?" she moaned in his ear.

"Be brave. There is nothing else you can do. dearest." Then he raised his

voice and addressed them all. "You have the power, and you may kill me, but you know as well as I that you cannot compel her to marry the duke. And I, whom she loves, beg her to be firm. I even forbid her by the right of my love to wed him. And after that what? If I am not mistaken her friends are more powerful than the duke's now; in which case beware of the consequences of what you do."

They tore her away from him, and held her firmly at the request of Szolnak, who once more approached near to Talbot.

"The fact that what you say is more or less true," he said, "is the very reason why the princess must marry the duke, and I hope to be able to persuade her." He turned to the princess, and in a cold, hard tone said to her: "Highness, this is not a time for hesitation, and I shall not hesitate. I warn you that this man shall die before your eyes if you do not consent to wed the duke and wed him at once. Will you do it?"

"By your love for me, refuse !" cried Talbot.

She looked at him, and she looked at Szolnak. She knew the merciless quality of these men so well. She had been a puppet in their hands far too long for her to be in ignorance.

"I — I refuse!" she faltered.

Without another word, Szolnak put the point of the sword on the white breast of the helpless man. Sonia screamed in agony. The noble turned and looked inquiringly at her.

"Well?" he said.

"Be firm, dearest," said Talbot, although the prick of the point was already painful.

"Oh. my love!" she panted, struggling furiously with the men who held her. "Oh, my dear love !"

Szolnak ground his jaws together, arid pushed until the point entered the flesh and the red blood began to flow.

"No, no!" screamed Sonia. "Stop!
Stop! I can't stand it. I'll do what you ask. Forgive me, dear! Yes, take that sword away. I tell you I will do what you ask. But you must let me go to him. You must ! I must go to him, 1 say!"

She struggled so like a madwoman that the men let her go. She ran frantically, and before any one could stop her had put her lips to the wound, one little hand reaching up and tremulously patting his cheek.

Talbot managed to turn his face so that he could kiss the soft, fluttering little hand. Then he turned his eyes on the group of nobles, and said in such tones of implacable purpose that there was none that was not affected : "You curs! Hear what I say! If you do not kill me I swear by all I hold dear that I will kill that sodden brute who is called the Duke of Jankovacz." He softened his voice, and murmured tenderly to the sobbing Sonia : "The wound is nothing, sweetheart. Don't fret for me. Let them wed you to the duke since you cannot endure to see me die, but believe me when I say that I will kill him. You will not have to endure him long, dearest."

'"You will hate me," she wailed, "but I cannot bear this."

"I shall not hate you, dear. I shall always !ove you. Do what you think is best. I think you foolish to wed him, but if you cannot endure to see them kill me, then let the bishop do his foul work."

She was holding her dainty handkerchief over his wound now, and looking up at him with the tears streaming down her face.

"Could you endure to see me dying under your eyes when a word from you could stop it ?"

"No. dearest," he answered tenderly. "I am sure I would do as you decide to do. But will it do any good? Do you believe they will dare to spare me? You know how utterly false they are."
"You shall be spared." Szolnak said. "I will see to it myself that you arc taken to cither Italy or Switzerland."

"It does not matter to me," Talbot said indifferently. "You have heard my oath, and 1 think you know that I keep my oaths."

"If ever you set foot in Hungary again." snarled the duke, "that instant you will die. Let us get on with this interesting wedding, Count Szolnak."

"Forgive me. dear!" sobbed Sonia. "I wish 1 could be braver, but I cannot. I know I would yield the moment I saw your dear blood flow."

"You are as brave as you are beautiful, my Sonia. I could say no more than that. Don't think of me any more."

"I shall always think of you."

"And I of you. dear; but since you must do this, let it be done quickly. Put no obstacles in their way."

But Sonia would do nothing until every man in the room had sworn the most solemn and particular oath that Talbot should be placed safely in either Italy or Switzerland, as he elected.

Then, unhindered by them, she bound up his wound, which was very trifling, and then kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"It is good-by, dear!" she said, the tears streaming down her fair checks.

"Yes. sweetheart ; I know it is."

"You will not forget me."

"Never."