He was full of thought after his conversation with Miguel, and turned down the shady path which led to the fountains with long, hasty strides. Things were looking desperate. It was, as Miguel had said, a question of time, unless—unless Savrola were removed or discredited. He refrained from precisely formulating the idea that had taken possession of his mind. He had done many things in the rough days of the war when he was a struggling man, the memory of which was not pleasant. He remembered a brother officer, a rising man, the colonel of a regiment, who had been a formidable rival; at a critical moment he had withheld the supports, and left it to the enemy to remove one obstacle from his path. Then another tale came into his mind which also was not a pretty one, a tale of a destroyed treaty, and a broken truce; of men, who had surrendered to terms, shot against the wall of the fort they had held so long. He also recalled with annoyance the methods he had adopted to extract information from the captured spy; five years of busy life, of success and fortune, had not obscured the memory of the man’s face as it writhed in suffering. But this new idea seemed the most odious of all. He was unscrupulous, but like many men in history or modern life, he had tried to put away a discreditable past. Henceforth, he had said when he obtained power, he would abandon such methods: they would no longer be necessary; and yet, here was the need already. Besides, Lucile was so beautiful; he loved her in his hard way for that alone; and she was such a consort, so tactful, so brilliant, that he admired and valued her from a purely official standpoint. If she ever knew, she would never forgive him. She never should know, but still he hated the idea.
But what other course remained? He thought of the faces of the crowd the day before; of Savrola; of the stories which reached him from the army; of other tales of a darker and more mysterious kind—tales of strange federations and secret societies, which suggested murder, as well as revolution. The tide was rising; it was dangerous to tarry.
And then the alternative presented itself; flight, abdication, a squalid existence in some foreign country, despised, insulted, suspected; and exiles always lived to a great age he had heard. He would not think of it; he would die first; nothing but death should drag him from the palace, and he would fight to the last. His mind returned to the starting point of his reflections. Here was a chance, the one solution which seemed possible; it was not an agreeable one, but it was that or none. He had reached the end of the path and turning the corner saw Lucile seated by the fountain. It was a beautiful picture.
She saw his preoccupied look and rose to meet him. “What is the matter, Antonio? You look worried.”
“Things are going wrong with us, my dear. Savrola, the deputation, the newspapers, and, above all, the reports I receive of the people, are ominous and alarming.”
“I noticed black looks this morning when I drove. Do you think there is danger?”
“I do,” he answered in his precise official manner, “grave danger.”
“I wish I could help you,” she said, “but I am only a woman. What can I do?” He did not answer and she continued: “Señor Savrola is a kind man. I used to know him quite well before the war.”
“He will ruin us.”
“Surely not.”
“We shall have to fly the country, if indeed they allow us to do that.”
She turned paler. “But I know what men look like; there is a sympathy between us; he is no fanatic.”
“There are powers behind and beneath him of which he knows little, which he cannot control, but which he has invoked.”
“Can you do nothing?”
“I cannot arrest him; he is too popular, and besides he has broken no law. He will go on. In a fortnight are the elections; he will be returned in spite of my precautions; then the trouble will begin.” He paused, and then speaking as if to himself continued: “If we could learn what he means to do, perhaps we might defeat it.”
“Can I not help you?” she asked quickly. “I know him; I think he likes me. He might whisper to me what he would not tell to others.” She thought of many victories in the past.
“My darling,” said Molara, “why should you spoil your life by mixing in the darker side of politics? I would not ask you.”
“But I want to. I will try if it would help you.”
“It might do much more.”
“Very well, I will find out for you; in a fortnight you shall know. He must come to the State Ball; I will meet him there.”
“I am loth to let you talk to such a man, but I know your wit, and the need is great. But will he come?”
“I will write him a note with the invitation,” she said, “laugh at politics and advise him to keep his private life at least free from them. I think he will come; if not, I will find some other way of seeing him.”
Molara looked at her with admiration. At no time did he love her more than when he realised of what use she was to him. “I leave it to you, then. I fear you will fail, but if you can do it, you may have saved the State. If not, no harm will have been done.”
“I shall succeed,” she answered confidently,
