en rose, a tall figure of
mystery, and spoke at length in a cultivated, softly intoned voice.
The Countess, listening, felt the voice vaguely familiar, as were the
burning eyes behind the mask.

"It is our hope, madame," he said, "that you will make it unnecessary
for the Committee of Ten to use those papers. We have no quarrel with
women. We wish rather a friend than an enemy. There be those, many of
them, who call us poor patriots, who would tear down without building
up. They are wrong. The Committee of Ten, to those who know its motives,
has the highest and most loyal of ideals--to the country."

His voice took on a new, almost a fanatic note. He spoke as well to
the other shrouded figures as to his comrades. No mean orator this.
He seldom raised his voice, he made no gestures. Almost, while she
listened, the Countess understood.

They had watched the gradual decay of the country, he said. Its burden
of taxation grew greater each year. The masses sweated and toiled, to
carry on their backs the dead weight of the aristocracy and the throne.
The iron hand of the Chancellor held everything; an old King who would
die, was dying now, and after that a boy, nominal ruler only, while the
Chancellor continued his hard rule. And now, as if that were not enough,
there was talk of an alliance with Karnia, an alliance which, carried
through, would destroy the hope of a republic.

The Countess stared.

"No wall is too thick for our ears," he continued. "Our eyes see
everywhere. And as we grow in strength, they fear us. Well they may."

He grew scornful then. To gain support for the tottering throne the
Chancellor would unite the two countries, that Karl's army, since
he could not trust his own, might be called on for help. And here he
touched the Countess's raw nerves with a brutal finger.

"The price of the alliance, madame, is the Princess Hedwig in marriage.
The Committee, which knows all things, believes that you have reason to
dislike this marriage."

Save that she clutched her cloak more closely, the Countess made no
move. But there was a soft stir among the figures. Perhaps, after all,
the Committee as a whole did not know all things.

"To prevent this alliance, madame, is our first aim. There are others to
follow. But"--he bent forward--"the King will not live many days. It is
our hope that that marriage will not occur before his death."

By this time Olga Loschek knew very well where she stood. The Committee