His subtle efforts to draw Haddan into a discussion of the princess and
her household resulted unsatisfactorily. The young guard was annoyingly
unresponsive. He had his secret instructions and could not be inveigled
into betraying himself. Baldos went to sleep that night with his mind
confused by doubts. His talk with Haddan had left him quite undecided as
to the value of old Franz's warning. Either Franz was mistaken, or
Haddan was a most skilful dissembler. It struck him as utterly beyond
the pale of reason that the entire castle guard should have been
enlisted in the scheme to deceive him. When sleep came, he was
contenting himself with the thought that morning doubtless would give
him clearer insight to the situation.
Both he and Beverly Calhoun were ignorant of the true conditions that
attached themselves to the new recruit. Baron Dangloss alone knew that
Haddan was a trusted agent of the secret service, with instructions to
shadow the newcomer day and night. That there was a mystery surrounding
the character of Baldos, the goat-hunter, Dangloss did not question for
an instant: and in spite of the instructions received at the outset, he
was using all his skill to unravel it.
Baldos was not summoned to the castle until noon. His serene
indifference to the outcome of the visit was calculated to deceive the
friendly but watchful Haddan. Dressed carefully in the close-fitting
uniform of the royal guard, taller than most of his fellows, handsomer
by far than any, he was the most noticeable figure in and about the
barracks. Haddan coached him in the way he was to approach the princess,
Baldos listening with exaggerated intentness and with deep regard for
detail.
Beverly was in the small audience-room off the main reception hall when
he was ushered into her presence. The servants and ladies-in-waiting
disappeared at a signal from her. She arose to greet him and he knelt to
kiss her hand. For a moment her tongue was bound. The keen eyes of the
new guard had looked into hers with a directness that seemed to
penetrate her brain. That this scene was to be one of the most
interesting in the little comedy was proved by the fact that two eager
young women were hidden behind a heavy curtain in a corner of the
room. The Princess Yetive and the Countess Dagmar were there to enjoy
Beverly's first hour of authority, and she was aware of their presence.
"Have they told you that you are to act as my especial guard and
escort?" she asked, with a queer flutter in her voice. Somehow this tall
fellow with the broad shoulders was not the same as the ragged
goat-hunter she had known at first.
"No, your highness," said he, easily. "I have come for instructions. It
pleases me to know that I am to have a place of honor and trust such as
this."