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I promise you a dukedom, sir—a dukedom for your true allegiance to your true sovereign." " Hush ! oh ! hush "' whispered Markham. Tho Mystery in Scarlet partially raised himself up and glanced about him. "It is time," ho said, "it is time that she should know all. In a cabinet in one of the rooms of this old palaco I hid the documentary proofs of my true birth and position, but I was wont out by hope de ferred—that sickness of the soul—and I saw tho man, the usurper who sits upon the throne of these realms. He ottered me half a million in monev and a German duchy, and I thought my child would be happier in that humbler and more secure haven than even on tho throne of England." "Good Heavens, sir!" exclaimed tho Marquis of Charlton. " Who and what arc Your" " Your king !" exclaimed the Mystery in Scarlet, as he suddenly sprang from the couch and drew himself up to his full height, with his hands elevatrd above his head. " Your king ! Your king, sir ! And every inch a king!" CHAPTER XLYIII. MB. SOUlils's DISCOMF1TU11E. "Father! father!" exclaimed Bertha, "what wild dream is this ? Oh ! look at mo in your old way, and speak to me in your old wav," " My child." * "Father, father, do not look so wildly. Let us leave kings and thronos and princes to their own anxious days and sleepless nights. Father, father, why do you look thus ? why do you apeak thus r" It is some dream that thus disturbs your fancy. Father, father, cast it from you!" " A dream ! a dream !" The Mystery in Scarlet sank on the couch again and rested his head upon his hands. " I should have starved," he said, " starved to death hero, in one of my own royal palaces, but that, by some strange chance, Heaven only Knows how it came there, I found some food in one of its chambers." " That food was mine, father, mine. It was brought hither for me. Oh! grateful, grateful! Am I not grateful that it supplied your wants ? Oh ! my father!" " But how ? now f" " He brought me here—he, my preserver. Look at him again, father. Wo escaped from tho burning house at Westminster on to the river, and through storm and through tempest he upheld mo and saved me. We found a refuge here, and it was food that ho procured for my sustenance which has saved you. Markham, Markl'am, your devotion was doubly blest, for you saved tho father as well as the child. Markham ! my Markham!" " This is most strange," said the Mystery in Scarlet. " I did wander into a room oucc and saw somo one sit ting at a table with a light." " It was I," said Markham. " Alas! I was too confused and di/r.y to know yon." " I was keeping watch over Bertha's" slumbers {u the adjoining room." " 0 Heaven ! and I missed tire happiness of know ing that!" " Lament it not, sir, lament it not. All is now well, and I have but one counsel te give you. It is a counsel which will be echoed by the dear voice of Bertha." "Counsel:-' What caunfel? True, true. You aro right, sir, you arc right. Wo make you a privy coun cillor. What have you to say to the king t " Sir, I have to counsel you to be happy, not great. Chance has placed in my hands great wealth, for in a secret recess of an old cabinet there was a hoard of jewels, to which without doubt your birth entitles you to the possession of. Let me, then, counsel you, sir, to leave this land with mo and with Bertha for ever. Wo will make a fair and beautiful and happy homo in an other and softer clime than ibis, and these vapours and dreams of ambition will pass away, whilo tho old pla titude that contentment is better than a throne ..ill commend itself, for its very simplicity, to all our hearts." " Yes, father," interposed Bertha. *' It ib not for your.-clf that you have coveted this crown—this un easy diadem that makes the head so acho that wears it."" Xo, no ; never for myRolf.'' "For me, father f for mo ?" " Yes, my Bertha, for you." "Then, father, if I tell you how much happier I shall be without it —" " No, no, no. You do not know." " Yes, father, I do know. I begin now to divine I the secret of your life. There is something in your ' birth, something in your lineage, whicfi makes yon' frol and think that tho crown of England is your owu by right." "I know it!" cried tho Mysiery in Scarlet, "f. know it ! I am the son of—" " Hold !" cried Captain Markham. " For your life's sake, hold ! Hold, sir, for tho sake of tho peace and serenity of your after life ! Not another word !" "Sirf" " Xot another word, I sav. Not another word!" "Sir, what right!" " Every right. I have passed through the peril. 1 have endured the ordeal and escaped, and I demand that you should not burden another soul with tho perilous secret —a secret that left you weltering in your blood in the garden at Kew—a secret which presented to my lips tho poisoned cup-*a secret which brought ' me out to die, and would nave left mo in my b'.oodj judicially murdered for an imputed crime which never crossed my imagination. Xo, sir, you shall not—you dare not burden another soul with it. It has gouo far enough already. Let it rest with me. And as for you, ! Marquis of Charlton, beliuvo that vou have heard the ravings of a disturbed spirit whicli believed itself a I king, and thcro an end." The Mystery in Scarlet was about to speak again, ] but Bertha flung her arms about him and interrupted him." Markham is rielit, father, Markham is right. There has been peril enough, and there have been tears enough and anguish enough already, and more than enough. Oh! father, we will have no mord. Fly, oh ! try with its. Wo want but' your consent that Toil should "bo peaceful, serene, and evermore happy.*' " I dare not. I cannot. My heart cries out aloud. I am what I am. I cannot "unking myself. Farq- well, gentlemen," farewell ! I r-cek not your allegiance, nor will I, as this brave and noble gentleman re marks, burden another living soul with the secret of tho Mystery in Scarlet. Come to me, my child, and wo will let them go—let thorn go." Then Bertha clasped her hands. Then sho shook with a terrible emotion. " Father ! Markhpm ! Markham ! father !" Sho turned to ono, and then sho turned to the other. Then, with a cry liko that of some affrighted bird, she flung herself upon Markham' s breast. "With you, with you, whatever may betide! With you to the world's end for ever and for evermore ! With you—with you for ever !" The Mystery in Scarlet shook like a leaf in autumn. "Alone! alouo!" he gasped. "Go! go! Alone and desolate ! lifo a pilgrimage ! the world a waste !" " Oh ! sir," said Markham, " what are crowns and sceptres, and crmincd robes, and cringing courtiers, ana life, and lip-service, and all the hollow cheats—" " Dreams !" shouted the Mystery in Scarlet. " Dreams and vapours ! To my heart, my children ! To my heart ! I shall bo yet a king—a king of your affections and your dearest loves. Wo will away at once. Away ! Away ! The papers! Where are the papers ? Here ! hero ! The secret of my birth, tlio evidenco of my destinv. Tho lantern ! tho lantern, Bertha! Quick 1 quick'!" " Here, father, here !" "To tho flames' To tlio flames with them! So perish, once and for ever, tho dream of a life; ; but tho awakening is yet more beautiful. 1 may not bo a king, but I am still a father." Thero was a 1 '. '■nu-hiug noise at thii nion.e-.'.t | Page 7.
I promise you a dukedom, sir—a dukedom for your true allegiance to your true sovereign." " Hush ! oh ! hush "' whispered Markham. Tho Mystery in Scarlet partially raised himself up and glanced about him. "It is time," ho said, "it is time that she should know all. In a cabinet in one of the rooms of this old palaco I hid the documentary proofs of my true birth and position, but I was wont out by hope de ferred—that sickness of the soul—and I saw tho man, the usurper who sits upon the throne of these realms. He ottered me half a million in monev and a German duchy, and I thought my child would be happier in that humbler and more secure haven than even on tho throne of England." "Good Heavens, sir!" exclaimed tho Marquis of Charlton. " Who and what arc Your" " Your king !" exclaimed the Mystery in Scarlet, as he suddenly sprang from the couch and drew himself up to his full height, with his hands elevatrd above his head. " Your king ! Your king, sir ! And every inch a king!" CHAPTER XLYIII. MB. SOUlils's DISCOMF1TU11E. "Father! father!" exclaimed Bertha, "what wild dream is this ? Oh ! look at mo in your old way, and speak to me in your old wav," " My child." * "Father, father, do not look so wildly. Let us leave kings and thronos and princes to their own anxious days and sleepless nights. Father, father, why do you look thus ? why do you apeak thus r" It is some dream that thus disturbs your fancy. Father, father, cast it from you!" " A dream ! a dream !" The Mystery in Scarlet sank on the couch again and rested his head upon his hands. " I should have starved," he said, " starved to death hero, in one of my own royal palaces, but that, by some strange chance, Heaven only Knows how it came there, I found some food in one of its chambers." " That food was mine, father, mine. It was brought hither for me. Oh! grateful, grateful! Am I not grateful that it supplied your wants ? Oh ! my father!" " But how ? now f" " He brought me here—he, my preserver. Look at him again, father. Wo escaped from tho burning house at Westminster on to the river, and through storm and through tempest he upheld mo and saved me. We found a refuge here, and it was food that ho procured for my sustenance which has saved you. Markham, Markl'am, your devotion was doubly blest, for you saved tho father as well as the child. Markham ! my Markham!" " This is most strange," said the Mystery in Scarlet. " I did wander into a room oucc and saw somo one sit ting at a table with a light." " It was I," said Markham. " Alas! I was too confused and di/r.y to know yon." " I was keeping watch over Bertha's" slumbers {u the adjoining room." " 0 Heaven ! and I missed tire happiness of know ing that!" " Lament it not, sir, lament it not. All is now well, and I have but one counsel te give you. It is a counsel which will be echoed by the dear voice of Bertha." "Counsel:-' What caunfel? True, true. You aro right, sir, you arc right. Wo make you a privy coun cillor. What have you to say to the king t " Sir, I have to counsel you to be happy, not great. Chance has placed in my hands great wealth, for in a secret recess of an old cabinet there was a hoard of jewels, to which without doubt your birth entitles you to the possession of. Let me, then, counsel you, sir, to leave this land with mo and with Bertha for ever. Wo will make a fair and beautiful and happy homo in an other and softer clime than ibis, and these vapours and dreams of ambition will pass away, whilo tho old pla titude that contentment is better than a throne ..ill commend itself, for its very simplicity, to all our hearts." " Yes, father," interposed Bertha. *' It ib not for your.-clf that you have coveted this crown—this un easy diadem that makes the head so acho that wears it."" Xo, no ; never for myRolf.'' "For me, father f for mo ?" " Yes, my Bertha, for you." "Then, father, if I tell you how much happier I shall be without it —" " No, no, no. You do not know." " Yes, father, I do know. I begin now to divine I the secret of your life. There is something in your ' birth, something in your lineage, whicfi makes yon' frol and think that tho crown of England is your owu by right." "I know it!" cried tho Mysiery in Scarlet, "f. know it ! I am the son of—" " Hold !" cried Captain Markham. " For your life's sake, hold ! Hold, sir, for tho sake of tho peace and serenity of your after life ! Not another word !" "Sirf" " Xot another word, I sav. Not another word!" "Sir, what right!" " Every right. I have passed through the peril. 1 have endured the ordeal and escaped, and I demand that you should not burden another soul with tho perilous secret —a secret that left you weltering in your blood in the garden at Kew—a secret which presented to my lips tho poisoned cup-*a secret which brought ' me out to die, and would nave left mo in my b'.oodj judicially murdered for an imputed crime which never crossed my imagination. Xo, sir, you shall not—you dare not burden another soul with it. It has gouo far enough already. Let it rest with me. And as for you, ! Marquis of Charlton, beliuvo that vou have heard the ravings of a disturbed spirit whicli believed itself a I king, and thcro an end." The Mystery in Scarlet was about to speak again, ] but Bertha flung her arms about him and interrupted him." Markham is rielit, father, Markham is right. There has been peril enough, and there have been tears enough and anguish enough already, and more than enough. Oh! father, we will have no mord. Fly, oh ! try with its. Wo want but' your consent that Toil should "bo peaceful, serene, and evermore happy.*' " I dare not. I cannot. My heart cries out aloud. I am what I am. I cannot "unking myself. Farq- well, gentlemen," farewell ! I r-cek not your allegiance, nor will I, as this brave and noble gentleman re marks, burden another living soul with the secret of tho Mystery in Scarlet. Come to me, my child, and wo will let them go—let thorn go." Then Bertha clasped her hands. Then sho shook with a terrible emotion. " Father ! Markhpm ! Markham ! father !" Sho turned to ono, and then sho turned to the other. Then, with a cry liko that of some affrighted bird, she flung herself upon Markham' s breast. "With you, with you, whatever may betide! With you to the world's end for ever and for evermore ! With you—with you for ever !" The Mystery in Scarlet shook like a leaf in autumn. "Alone! alouo!" he gasped. "Go! go! Alone and desolate ! lifo a pilgrimage ! the world a waste !" " Oh ! sir," said Markham, " what are crowns and sceptres, and crmincd robes, and cringing courtiers, ana life, and lip-service, and all the hollow cheats—" " Dreams !" shouted the Mystery in Scarlet. " Dreams and vapours ! To my heart, my children ! To my heart ! I shall bo yet a king—a king of your affections and your dearest loves. Wo will away at once. Away ! Away ! The papers! Where are the papers ? Here ! hero ! The secret of my birth, tlio evidenco of my destinv. Tho lantern ! tho lantern, Bertha! Quick 1 quick'!" " Here, father, here !" "To tho flames' To tlio flames with them! So perish, once and for ever, tho dream of a life; ; but tho awakening is yet more beautiful. 1 may not bo a king, but I am still a father." Thero was a 1 '. '■nu-hiug noise at thii nion.e-.'.t |