Rupert of Hentzau

Anthony Hope

Description

Action, excitement, loyalty, honor, and feats of strength and bravery -- this sequel to Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda has something to appeal to every reader. A swashbuckling adventure set in the fictional country of Ruritania, this novel more than lives up to the high standards of its predecessor.

Sujets

• Adventure (Guyana)
• Adventure

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775562788
• Langue: English

Extrait

RUPERT OF HENTZAU
FROM THE MEMOIRS OF FRITZ VON TARLENHEIM: THE SEQUEL TO THE PRISONER OF ZENDA
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ANTHONY HOPE
 
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Rupert of Hentzau From The Memoirs of Fritz Von Tarlenheim: The Sequel to The Prisoner of Zenda First published in 1895 ISBN 978-1-77556-278-8 © 2012 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Chapter I - The Queen's Good-By Chapter II - A Station Without a Cab Chapter III - Again to Zenda Chapter IV - An Eddy on the Moat Chapter V - An Audience of the King Chapter VI - The Task of the Queen's Servants Chapter VII - The Message of Simon the Huntsman Chapter VIII - The Temper of Boris the Hound Chapter IX - The King in the Hunting Lodge Chapter X - The King in Strelsau Chapter XI - What the Chancellor's Wife Saw Chapter XII - Before Them All! Chapter XIII - A King Up His Sleeve Chapter XIV - The News Comes to Strelsau Chapter XV - A Pastime for Colonel Sapt Chapter XVI - A Crowd in the Konigstrasse Chapter XVII - Young Rupert and the Play-Actor Chapter XVIII - The Triumph of the King Chapter XIX - For Our Love and Her Honor Chapter XX - The Decision of Heaven Chapter XXI - The Coming of the Dream
Chapter I - The Queen's Good-By
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A man who has lived in the world, marking how every act, althoughin itself perhaps light and insignificant, may become the source ofconsequences that spread far and wide, and flow for years or centuries,could scarcely feel secure in reckoning that with the death of theDuke of Strelsau and the restoration of King Rudolf to liberty and histhrone, there would end, for good and all, the troubles born of BlackMichael's daring conspiracy. The stakes had been high, the strugglekeen; the edge of passion had been sharpened, and the seeds of enmitysown. Yet Michael, having struck for the crown, had paid for the blowwith his life: should there not then be an end? Michael was dead,the Princess her cousin's wife, the story in safe keeping, and Mr.Rassendyll's face seen no more in Ruritania. Should there not then be anend? So said I to my friend the Constable of Zenda, as we talked by thebedside of Marshal Strakencz. The old man, already nearing the deaththat soon after robbed us of his aid and counsel, bowed his head inassent: in the aged and ailing the love of peace breeds hope of it. ButColonel Sapt tugged at his gray moustache, and twisted his black cigarin his mouth, saying, "You're very sanguine, friend Fritz. But is Rupertof Hentzau dead? I had not heard it."
Well said, and like old Sapt! Yet the man is little without theopportunity, and Rupert by himself could hardly have troubled ourrepose. Hampered by his own guilt, he dared not set his foot in thekingdom from which by rare good luck he had escaped, but wandered to andfro over Europe, making a living by his wits, and, as some said, addingto his resources by gallantries for which he did not refuse substantialrecompense. But he kept himself constantly before our eyes, and neverceased to contrive how he might gain permission to return and enjoy theestates to which his uncle's death had entitled him. The chief agentthrough whom he had the effrontery to approach the king was hisrelative, the Count of Luzau-Rischenheim, a young man of high rank andgreat wealth who was devoted to Rupert. The count fulfilled his missionwell: acknowledging Rupert's heavy offences, he put forward in hisbehalf the pleas of youth and of the predominant influence which DukeMichael had exercised over his adherent, and promised, in words sosignificant as to betray Rupert's own dictation, a future fidelity noless discreet than hearty. "Give me my price and I'll hold my tongue,"seemed to come in Rupert's off-hand accents through his cousin'sdeferential lips. As may be supposed, however, the king and those whoadvised him in the matter, knowing too well the manner of man theCount of Hentzau was, were not inclined to give ear to his ambassador'sprayer. We kept firm hold on Master Rupert's revenues, and as good watchas we could on his movements; for we were most firmly determined thathe should never return to Ruritania. Perhaps we might have obtained hisextradition and hanged him on the score of his crimes; but in these daysevery rogue who deserves no better than to be strung up to the nearesttree must have what they call a fair trial; and we feared that, ifRupert were handed over to our police and arraigned before the courtsat Strelsau, the secret which we guarded so sedulously would become thegossip of all the city, ay, and of all Europe. So Rupert went unpunishedexcept by banishment and the impounding of his rents.
Yet Sapt was in the right about him. Helpless as he seemed, he didnot for an instant abandon the contest. He lived in the faith that hischance would come, and from day to day was ready for its coming. Heschemed against us as we schemed to protect ourselves from him; ifwe watched him, he kept his eye on us. His ascendency overLuzau-Rischenheim grew markedly greater after a visit which his cousinpaid to him in Paris. From this time the young count began to supplyhim with resources. Thus armed, he gathered instruments round him andorganized a system of espionage that carried to his ears all our actionsand the whole position of affairs at court. He knew, far more accuratelythan anyone else outside the royal circle, the measures taken for thegovernment of the kingdom and the considerations that dictated the royalpolicy. More than this, he possessed himself of every detail concerningthe king's health, although the utmost reticence was observed onthis subject. Had his discoveries stopped there, they would have beenvexatious and disquieting, but perhaps of little serious harm. Theywent further. Set on the track by his acquaintance with what had passedduring Mr. Rassendyll's tenure of the throne, he penetrated the secretwhich had been kept successfully from the king himself. In the knowledgeof it he found the opportunity for which he had waited; in its bold usehe discerned his chance. I cannot say whether he were influenced morestrongly by his desire to reestablish his position in the kingdom orby the grudge he bore against Mr. Rassendyll. He loved power and money;dearly he loved revenge also. No doubt both motives worked together, andhe was rejoiced to find that the weapon put into his hand had a doubleedge; with one he hoped to cut his own path clear; with the other, towound the man he hated through the woman whom that man loved. In fine,the Count of Hentzau, shrewdly discerning the feeling that existedbetween the queen and Rudolf Rassendyll, set his spies to work, andwas rewarded by discovering the object of my yearly meetings with Mr.Rassendyll. At least he conjectured the nature of my errand; this wasenough for him. Head and hand were soon busy in turning the knowledge toaccount; scruples of the heart never stood in Rupert's way.
The marriage which had set all Ruritania on fire with joy and formedin the people's eyes the visible triumph over Black Michael and hisfellow-conspirators was now three years old. For three years thePrincess Flavia had been queen. I am come by now to the age when a manshould look out on life with an eye undimmed by the mists of passion.My love-making days are over; yet there is nothing for which I am morethankful to Almighty God than the gift of my wife's love. In storm ithas been my anchor, and in clear skies my star. But we common folk arefree to follow our hearts; am I an old fool for saying that he is a foolwho follows anything else? Our liberty is not for princes. We need waitfor no future world to balance the luck of men; even here there is anequipoise. From the highly placed a price is exacted for their state,their wealth, and their honors, as heavy as these are great; to thepoor, what is to us mean and of no sweetness may appear decked in therobes of pleasure and delight. Well, if it were not so, who could sleepat nights? The burden laid on Queen Flavia I knew, and know, so well asa man can know it. I think it needs a woman to know it fully; for evennow my wife's eyes fill with tears when we speak of it. Yet she bore it,and if she failed in anything, I wonder that it was in so little. Forit was not only that she had never loved the king and had loved anotherwith all her heart. The king's health, shattered by the horror andrigors of his imprisonment in the castle of Zenda, soon broke utterly.He lived, indeed; nay, he shot and hunted, and kept in his hand somemeasure, at least, of government. But always from the day of his releasehe was a fretful invalid, different utterly from the gay and jovialprince whom Michael's villains had caught in the shooting lodge. Therewas worse than this. As time went on, the first impulse of gratitude andadmiration that he had felt towards Mr. Rassendyll died away. He came tobrood more and more on what had passed while he was a prisoner; he waspossessed not only by a haunting dread of Rupert of Hentzau, at whosehands he had suffered so greatly, but also by a morbid, half madjealousy of Mr. Rassendyll. Rudolf had played the hero while he layhelpless. Rudolf's were the exploits for which his own people cheeredhim in his own capital. Rudolf's were the laurels that crowned hisimpatient brow. He had enough nobility to resent his borrowed credit,without the fortitude to endure it manfully. And the hateful comparisonstruck him nearer home. Sapt would tell him bluntly that Rudolf did thisor that, set this precedent or that, laid down