"Not at all. If you were found dead there might be a possibility of
that. But I should explain to him, and he would understand that it was
a case without diplomatic precedent."
"Well?"
"You are to leave this country at once, sir; that is, if you place any
value upon your life."
"Oh; then it is really serious?"
"Very. It is a matter of life and death--to you. Moreover, you must
never enter this country again. If you do, I will not give a pfennig
for your life."
He found my passports in good order. I permitted him to rummage
through some of my papers.
"Ach! a damned scribbler, too!" coming across some of my notes.
"Quite right, Herr General," said I. I submitted because I didn't care.
My luggage was packed off to the station, where he saw that my ticket
was for Paris.
"Good morning," he said, as I entered the carriage compartment. "The
devil will soon come to his own; ach!"
"My compliments to him when you see him!" I called back, not to be
outdone in the matter of courtesy.
"And that is all, Jack," concluded Hillars. "For all these months not
an hour has passed in which I have not cursed the folly of that moment.
Instead of healing under the balm of philosophy, the wound grows more
painful every day. She did not love me, I know, but she would have
been near me. And if the King had taken away her principality, she
would have needed me in a thousand ways. And it is not less than
possible that in time she might have learned the lesson of love. But
now--if she is the woman I believe her to be, she never could love me
after what has happened. And knowing this, I can't leave liquor alone,
and don't want to. In my cups I do not care."
"I feel sorry for you both," said I. "Has the Prince married her yet?"
"No. It has been postponed. Next Monday I am going back. I am going
in hopes of getting into trouble. I may never see her again, perhaps.
To-morrow, to-morrow! Who knows? Well, I'm off to bed. Good night."
And I was left alone with my thoughts. They weren't very good company.
To-morrow indeed, I thought. I sat and smoked till my tongue smarted.
I had troubles of my own, and wondered how they would end. Poor
Hillars! As I look back to-day, I marvel that we could not see the
end. The mystery of life seems simple to us who have lived most of it,
and can look down through the long years.