Royal Flash

too.

'If you care to study the map of Europe above that bookcase,' Bismarck continued, 'you will see that at the eastern limit of Holstein, where it adjoins Mecklenburg, there is a small duchy called Strackenz. It, like Schleswig and Holstein, has ties both with Germany and Denmark; like them, also, it is riven internally by contending parties. Being a rural, backward province, it is of less apparent importance than its larger neighbours, but this is an illusion. In fact, it is the spark on the tinder; if the dissension between the contending parties in Strackenz were to erupt into disorder, this would undoubtedly be used by revolutionary elements as an excuse to foment unrest in the neighbouring provinces; Denmark and Germany could become involved—believe me, great wars have begun over smaller matters than Strackenz.

'Is it plain to you that the peace must be kept in this little province? If it is, then given time, German diplomacy will ensure the incorporation of Schheswig and Holstein into the German confederacy, and the process of our national unification will have begun. But if in the immediate future anything should occur to plunge Strackenz into unrest, if the rival factions there should be given any crisis to exploit—then, my work will be ruined before it has been commenced.'

I can't say I gave a tuppenny damn about his work, or the building of a united German state, and I couldn't for the life of me see what all this had to do with me. Still, I could only listen. Bismarck was leaning forward again, staring at me and tapping the table.

'Such a crisis is at hand. Here are the facts. Strackenz is ruled by a Duchess Irma, who has recently reached marriageable age. She is exceedingly popular with her subjects, being young and personable and therefore supremely fitted to rule, in the eyes of superstitious peasants. It has been arranged that she should marry a prince of the Danish royal family, a nephew, in fact, of King Christian himself, one Prince Carl Gustaf. This informs you of the importance that Denmark attaches to even such a tiny province as Strackenz. The point is that the marriage will be hailed by the Danish faction in Strackenz, who are an unusually troublesome group—possibly because they are so far away from Denmark itself. And if they are contented, Strackenz will continue in peace. Its German population will know how to wait,' he added with confidence.

I confess I stifled a yawn, but he ignored it.

'Politically, then, the match is not only desirable, but essential. Its stabilising influence apart, I am not without hopes of Carl Gustaf, with whom I am acquainted. He would make a popular consort and ruler in Strackenz.'

He hesitated, his eyes unwinking on mine, and I stirred impatiently.

'Well, then,' says I, 'good luck to the happy couple, and God bless 'em all and Tiny Tim. Will you come to the point as far as I'm concerned—if I am at all, which I'm beginning to doubt.'

'Oh, you are,' says he, nodding grimly. 'I said there was a crisis in Strackenz. It is this as things stand, the wedding, which is to be solemnised in six weeks' time, cannot take place.'

'Can't it, now? Why not?'

'Prince Carl Gustaf, who is in many ways an admirable young man, has nevertheless his share of young men's folly.' Bismarck paused. 'He has contracted a social disease, which makes it impossible that he marry, at least for the time being.'

'A what?'

'A social disease.'

'You mean he's got a dose of clap?' I let loose a guffaw. 'Well, that's damned inconsiderate of him. Bad luck on Countess what's-her-name, too. Still, boys will be boys, eh? But that makes things awkward, I agree. What are you going to do about it?'

Bisinarck didn't reply for a moment. There was a dead silence in the room, an expectant silence that made me uneasy.

'Well,' says I at length. 'What next?'

Bismarck stood up abruptly, went over to a desk against the wall, and took a small object from it. He weighed it in his hand as he paced slowly back to the table.

'If the wedding does not take place, Strackenz will explode. The Danish party will see to it; liberal agitators will whip up anti-German feeling with tales of a plot. But it is obviously impossible for Prince Carl to marry for several months, when his … condition has responded to treatment.'

He seemed to expect a comment, so I suggested the wedding be postponed.

'On what pretext? If the real reason were known, the marriage could never take place at all, obviously. And the Strackenz pot would boil over. At the moment, no one knows of Carl Gustaf's malady except his own physician, and two highly-placed Danish ministers. The rest of Denmark, like Germany and Strackenz, suspects nothing amiss, and expects the wedding to go forward.'

'You say only three people know that this Prince has Cupid's measles? Then how do you… .'

'I have my own sources. The three I mentioned, the Prince, and ourselves are the only people who know. Rest assured.' He juggled the object in his hand. 'The wedding must take place.'

'Well, he'll just have to marry her, clap and all, won't he? What else… .'

'Out of the question,' says de Gautet, speaking for the first time. 'Humanitarian reasons apart, it would surely be discovered afterwards, and the ensuing scandal would have as disastrous an effect as a postponement of the marriage.'

'Well, then, talk sense,' says I. 'If the Prince can't marry her in six weeks, the wedding's off, ain't it? You'll have to think of something else.'

'We have,' says Bismarck. 'And the wedding will take place.'

'You're talking bloody nonsense,' says I. 'Anyway, what the hell do I care? What has all this to do with me?'

Bismarck tossed down on the table the thing he had been holding. It slithered along the length of the wood and stopped in front of me. I saw it was a gold case, oval, and about four inches long.

'Open it,' says Bismarck.

I touched the catch, and the thing sprang open. In it was a miniature, in very fine colour, showing a man in uniform, youngish, but with a completely bald head which gave him an unnatural look. He wasn't bad-looking, though, and it seemed to me I knew him… and then the case dropped from my fingers, and the room seemed to swim about me. For I did know him; saving the bald head, the face in the miniature was my own. It was all too familiar from my own mirror: the likeness was uncanny, exact.

'Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark,' says Bismarck, and his voice seemed to be coming through a fog.

I'm not often at a loss for words, but at that moment I sat stricken dumb. The enormity of the idea—for it was as plain as a pikestaff in an instant—was beyond reasonable comment. I just sat and gaped from them to the miniature and back, and Rudi's jovial laugh rang out.

'Magnificent!' cries he. 'I'd not have missed that moment for a dukedom! I wish you could have seen your face—your own face, I mean.'

'You will remember,' says Bismarck, 'that when we first met in London I was puzzled to remember where I had seen you before. I had not, of course-but I had seen the young Prince Carl when he visited Berlin. I realised then that you were doppelgangers, identical bodies, and regarded it as an interesting fact; no more. Three months ago, when I first learned of the Prince's indisposition, and that his response to treatment was too slow to make it possible that he be married on the required date, I remembered the fact again. I perceived that here lay a way out. At first, as you may appreciate, I rejected the notion as absurd. Then I applied myself to study it minutely, and saw that it was possible. Incredible, perhaps, but still possible. I planned it step by step, and saw that with proper care and preparation it was more than that—it was virtually certain of success. My decision taken, I set in motion the events that have brought you here to Schonhausen.'

At last I found my tongue. 'You're mad!' I shouted, 'You're a raving lunatic! You'd substitute me … for him … to … to … pose … to attempt the maddest, most ridiculous… .'

'Silence!' he shouted, and came round the table, his face working with passion. 'Do you suppose I have entered on this matter lightly? That I have not examined it, time and time again, before I determined on it? Do you imagine I designed the plan that has brought you here, and spent the time and money I have used, without being certain that I could complete the whole business?' He bent down, his face close to mine, and spoke rapidly and quietly. 'Consider, if you have the intelligence, the minute thoroughness of the stratagem that has brought you this far. Planned, my English numbskull, with a care and precision that your slow wits cannot conceive.'