ion to their combined
wishes. And the worst of it was that, as they now fully realised, she
was acting entirely within her rights.

They were still struggling with their emotions when Sachar, always
bitterly impatient of opposition, and always accustomed to act upon the
impulse of the moment, sprang to his feet, his eyes ablaze with fury,
and shouted:

"My lords, fellow members of the Council of Nobles, are you going to
submit without protest to this most monstrous disregard of our wishes?
Because, if you are, I am not. I say that, law or no law, we will not
be governed by a woman. The queen _must_ and _shall_ marry forthwith;
and if she will not choose for herself a husband, acceptable to us all,
we will choose one for her and compel her to marry him, by force, if
necessary--"

He stopped suddenly and sank helplessly back into his seat, forced
thereto by the irresistible pressure of Dick's hands upon his shoulders,
the grip of which threatened to crush his shoulder-blades together.
And, looking up, he found Dick Cavendish towering over him with a look
in his eyes that seemed to spell sudden death to the rash offender. For
three or four seconds Dick, still retaining that frightful and agonising
grip upon Sachar's shoulders, glowered at the now writhing noble; then
he shook the unfortunate man with such furious violence that Sachar's
teeth not only clicked together like castanets, but they also bit his
tongue through as he attempted to speak.

By this time the whole chamber was in an uproar, _every_ man having
started to his feet in terror of what should happen next. A few of the
more timid ones were hastily leaving their seats and beating a
precipitate retreat toward the door, only to be stopped, however, by the
crossed halberds of the guard. Lyga was the only noble who seemed in
nowise disconcerted by so extraordinary a happening, and he stood
smiling benevolently on Dick while the latter was manhandling the
enraged yet terrified Sachar. Several of the other nobles, however,
anxious to curry favour with Sachar, hastened to his assistance, and
strove unavailingly to break Dick's grip, while the captain of the
guard, accompanied by a file of soldiers, having responded to Dick's
call, now stood uncertainly by, at a loss to know whether or not he
ought to obey the young Englishman's order to arrest a noble and member
of the council.

This state of uncertainty on the part of the captain of the guard did
not pa