l, he whirled round on Marulitch.

"Perhaps this is an occasion when it is a woman's privilege to remain
silent," he said bitterly. "So I begin with you, Julius. Save myself,
you are the youngest here, and it would be fitting that you and I should
determine this business. I warn you there will be no half measures! My
life, at least, goes into the scale, and I care not who else adjusts the
balance."

The pink and white tints had long fled from the Parisian dandy's
complexion. In the dim light he looked livid, and his forehead bore
bright beads of perspiration. But even Alec's fiery eyes discerned that
he was not only afraid, but bewildered, and his voice cracked with
excitement when he spoke.

"I declare by everything I hold sacred that I had no hand in this
affair!" he said shrilly. "It is natural perhaps that you should suspect
me, since I seem to have most to gain by any ill that befalls you; but,
even in your anger, Alec, you should be just. No matter how fierce your
emotions, you ought to realize that Miss Vernon's departure from
Delgratz retards rather than helps any possible scheming on my part to
succeed you on the throne."

"Now you, Beliani!" said Alec, striving to penetrate the mask that
covered the one impassive face in the room. "It was you who contrived
that my promised wife should come here from Paris. I can see your
purpose now. At to-day's meeting of the Cabinet, while I was urging your
advancement to power and dignity in the State, your hand was revealed in
the opposition manifested to my marriage. Your cunning brain conceived
the notion that I would not abandon the woman I loved for the sake of
fifty Kingdoms. You read my mind aright; but, if it was you who brought
about her flight, for what devilish reason did you depart from the
subtle plot that might well have achieved your ends by means which you,
at least, would consider fair?"

The Greek spread wide his hands in that characteristic gesture of his.
As it happened, for once in his life he could afford to be sincere. "I
can only assure your Majesty in the plainest possible terms," he said,
"that until I heard the news from your own lips, I had no knowledge
whatsoever of Miss Vernon's journey. Were I asked outside that locked
door to state to the best of my belief where she might be found, I
should have said that the slight illness of which she complained this
morning had probably confined her to her room."

For an instant Alec scowled at the