"No? no!" cried Beverly. "Don't you dare to go out there again. You are
to stay right here in the castle, sir. We have something else for you to
do. It was that awful old Marlanx who shot at you. He--"
"I left General Marlanx in Colonel Quinnox's quarters, Miss Calhoun,"
interposed Baldos grimly. "He could not have fired the shot. For two or
three nights, your highness, I have been followed and dogged with
humiliating persistence by two men wearing the uniforms of castle
guards. They do not sleep at the barracks. May I ask what I have done to
be submitted to such treatment?" There was a trace of poorly concealed
indignation in his voice.
"I assure you that this is news to me," said Yetive in amazement.
"I am being watched as if I were a common thief," he went on
boldly. "These men are not your agents; they are not the agents of
Graustark. May I be permitted to say that they are spies set upon me by
a man who has an object in disgracing me? Who that man is, I leave to
your royal conjecture."
"Marlanx?"
"Yes, your highness. He bears me a deadly grudge and yet he fears me. I
know full well that he and his agents have built a strong case against
me. They are almost ready to close in upon me, and they will have false
evidence so craftily prepared that even my truest friends may doubt my
loyalty to you and to the cause I serve. Before God, I have been true to
my oath. I am loyal to Graustark. It was a sorry day when I left the
valley and--"
"Oh!" cried Beverly piteously. "Don't say that."
"Alas, Miss Calhoun, it is true," said he sadly, "I am penned up here
where I cannot fight back. Treason is laid against me. But, beyond all
this, I have permitted my loyalty to mislead my ambition. I have aspired
to something I can cherish but never possess. Better that I never should
have tasted of the unattainable than to have the cup withdrawn just as
its sweetness begins to intoxicate."
He stood before them, pale with suppressed emotion. The women of
Graustark looked involuntarily at Beverly, who sat cold and voiceless,
staring at the face of the guard. She knew what he meant; she knew that
something was expected of her. A word from her and he would understand
that he had not tasted of the unattainable. In one brief moment she saw
that she had deliberately led him on, that she had encouraged him, that
she actually had proffered him the cup from which he had begun to sip
the bitterness. Pride and love were waging a conflict in this hapless
southern girl's heart. But she was silent. She could not say the word.