Clementina

"Here is a quandary!" he exclaimed. "I do declare every circumstance of

me trembles," and shaking his head he went away. But in a little he came

again.

"His Highness distinguishes you, Mr. Warner, with imperishable honours.

His Highness solicits your company to a solitary dinner. You shall dine

with him alone. His presence and unfettered conversation shall season

your soup and be the condiments of your meat."

Wogan's heart jumped. There could be only one reason for so unusual an

invitation on such a day, and he was not mistaken; for as soon as the

Prince was served in a little room, he dismissed the lackeys and

presented again the turquoise snuff-box with his own hands.

"See, Mr. Wogan, your persuasions and your conduct have gained me over,"

said he. "Your refusal of this bagatelle assures me of your honour. I

trust myself entirely to your discretion; I confide my beloved daughter

to your care. Take from my hands the gift you refused this morning, and

be assured that no prince ever gave to any man such full powers as I

will give to you to-night."

Wogan's gratitude wellnigh overcame him. The thing that he had worked

for and almost despaired of had come to pass. For a while he could not

speak; he flung himself upon his knees and kissed the Prince's hand.

That very night he received the letter giving him full powers, and the

next morning he drove off in a carriage of his Highness drawn by six

Polish horses towards the town of Strahlen on the road to Prague. At

Strahlen he stayed a day, feigning a malady, and sent the carriage back.

The following day, however, he took horse, and riding along by-roads and

lanes avoided Prague and hurried towards Schlestadt.

He rode watchfully, avoiding towns, and with an eye alert for every

passer-by. That he was ahead of any courier from the Emperor at Vienna

he did not doubt, but, on the other hand, the Countess of Berg and Lady

Featherstone had the advantage of him by some four days. There would be

no lack of money to hinder him; there would be no scruple as to the

means. Wogan remembered the moment in his bedroom when he had seen the

dagger bright in the moon's rays. If he could not be arrested, there

were other ways to stop him. Accidents may happen to any man.

However, he rode unhindered with the Prince's commission safe against

his breast. He felt the paper a hundred times a day to make sure that it

was not stolen nor lost, nor reduced to powder by a miracle. Day by day

his fears diminished, since day by day he drew a day's journey nearer to

Schlestadt. The paper became a talisman in his thoughts,--a thing

endowed with magic properties to make him invisible like the cloak or

cap of the fairy tales. Those few lines in writing not a week back had

seemed an unattainable prize, yet he had them; and so now they promised

him that other unattainable thing, the enlargement of the Princess. It

was in his nature, too, to grow buoyant in proportion to the

difficulties of his task. He rode forward, therefore, with a good heart,

and one sombre evening of rain came to a village some miles beyond

Augsburg.