not be deceived. I die because I
wish to die. It is bound to be so. I know by the feel of my heart. In a
few hours it will be over. The throne of Posen will be yours, Aribert.
You will fill it more worthily than I have done. Don't let them know
over there that I poisoned myself. Swear Hans to secrecy; swear the
doctors to secrecy; and breathe no word yourself. I have been a fool,
but I do not wish it to be known that I was also a coward. Perhaps it
is not cowardice; perhaps it is courage, after all--courage to cut
the knot. I could not have survived the disgrace of any revelations,
Aribert, and revelations would have been sure to come. I have made a
fool of myself, but I am ready to pay for it. We of Posen--we always
pay--everything except our debts. Ah! those debts! Had it not been
for those I could have faced her who was to have been my wife, to have
shared my throne. I could have hidden my past, and begun again. With
her help I really could have begun again. But Fate has been against
me--always! always! By the way, what was that plot against me, Aribert?
I forget, I forget.'

His eyes closed. There was a sudden noise. Old Hans had slipped from his
chair to the floor. He picked himself up, dazed, and crept shamefacedly
out of the room.

Aribert took his nephew's hand.

'Nonsense, Eugen! You are dreaming. You will be all right soon. Pull
yourself together.'

'All because of a million,' the sick man moaned. 'One miserable million
English pounds. The national debt of Posen is fifty millions, and I, the
Prince of Posen, couldn't borrow one. If I could have got it, I might
have held my head up again. Good-bye, Aribert.... Who is that girl?'

Aribert looked up. Nella was standing silent at the foot of the bed,
her eyes moist. She came round to the bedside, and put her hand on the
patient's heart. Scarcely could she feel its pulsation, and to Aribert
her eyes expressed a sudden despair.

At that moment Hans re-entered the room and beckoned to her.

'I have heard that Herr Racksole has returned to the hotel,' he
whispered, 'and that he has captured that man Jules, who they say is
such a villain.'

Several times during the night Nella inquired for her father, but could
gain no knowledge of his whereabouts. Now, at half-past six in the
morning, a rumour had mysteriously spread among the servants of the
hotel about the happenings of the night before. How it had originated no
one could have determined, but it had origi