Prince Maurice of Statland [A novel.] By H. R. H

Chapter I

A large party were assembled at Invercona House to meet Prince Maurice of Statland. Both the Laird and Mrs. Stuart, of Inver cona, had been somewhat nervous as to the visit of his Highness, as the resources of Invercona were but limited, and certainly it was impossible to receive and treat such a personage as Prince Maurice in the way he ought to be treated and received. However, there was no help for it; he had been asked without their sanction, but as he had accepted B the invitation they had to make the best of it. They could at least give him a hearty welcome, if nothing more. But the whole thing was a bore, and they did not at first bless Ronald Stuart, their eldest born, for having so rashly given this invitation. Ronald, however, laughed their fears and objections to scorn. He had known Prince Maurice for some years, and had received much kindness from him whilst in Statland, therefore, he said, it was impossible to allow the Prince to pass through the neighbour hood without paying him some attention.

Prince Maurice, attended by Count Henry Deyman, and with only one servant, was travelling for health and pleasure through Scotland, visiting all the usual places famous for scenery or in history ; in fact, he was going the usual tourist route. He was travelling as a private personage, though he had not adopted any title for the occasion. He had declined all public receptions, and preferred to be utterly free to do what and go where he liked, without any fuss or ceremony. He was enjoying this freedom thoroughly. Ronald Stuart had gone to Edinburgh to meet him, to act as his cicerone in that city, and to be of any possible use to him. On learning that the Prince proposed to visit the town which was only a few miles from Inver cona, Ronald had proffered the Prince some grouse-shooting, and the latter had accepted at once.

This led to the invitation to stay at Invercona, Ronald explaining that his home was merely a very small house, little more than a shooting lodge, and that the Prince must overlook and put up with a great deal, as they could not possibly receive him as the Prince of Statland. Prince Maurice, however, was charmed, and said that under any circumstances he should come, that he must be treated as if he were quite nobody, without any formality or ceremony, and he even offered to leave his servant behind him. Ronald, of course, explained that that was not necessary, and eventually it was arranged that the Prince should in every way be treated as a private personage, not as a Royal visitor. Invercona himself did not mind much. If the Prince cared much for shooting, they could at least give him some days at the grouse, though the Invercona shootings, being situated so near a town, were very much poached, and therefore not by any means too plentifully supplied with birds.

It was Mrs. Stuart who was rather worried about it. Her cook was far from perfection ; the rooms for the Prince most certainly required refurnishing, but there was not possibly time to make any changes. There were numerous small household worries con tinually in her thoughts, but neither she nor any of the household had the least presenti-. ment of the real troubles which were to spring from this visit. Ronald had managed to collect one or two smart and amusing people to meet the Prince, and took care that there was more than one pretty woman, for Prince Maurice was an ardent admirer of personal beauty, and then what a godsend a pretty, bright woman is in a shooting lodge ! Prince Maurice came, and had scarcely been an hour in the house, when all formality and ceremony had gone, and the whole house hold was at his feet.

He was very handsome, very. Fair, blueeyed, with a frank, true face, and a figure that was the very ideal of healthy, youthful manhood. He had "such a way" with him. He was so frank, so boyish, so interested in everything, and so ready to enter with enjoyment into anything, that he carried all before him. He was determined to put everyone at their ease, and succeeded com pletely. At dinner he kept his end of the table in a simmer of laughter, and kept up a continual flow of conversation. He asked why some of them called Mr. Stuart " Invercona," and on being told it was an old Highland custom, and that Mr. Stuart was almost unknown by any other name except " Invercona," he im mediately got Mrs. Stuart to tell him a few words of Gaelic, which he then, in the first pause of conversation, addressed to Invercona, hailing him by that title, much to the latter's delight.

After dinner Mrs. Stuart and the other ladies held an excited conclave round the drawing-room fire to give vent to their opinions of the Prince. " He is just my ideal of a man," said Mrs. Stuart, and everyone agreed with her. Count Deyman was a much more formid able person than the Prince, yet he too was " charming," though nowhere beside his master. Then after dinner, when the pipes were heard in the distance — the piper being rele gated to the garden and drive, so as not to be too overpowering — nothing would satisfy his Highness but that the piper should be brought in, and that they should have a reel, and he himself helped to move chairs and tables aside, to make room for the dancing. He entered with great spirit into all the dances, and begged to be taught the sword dance, which he learnt in no time, and vowed he would practise in the solitude of his own apartments.

He both played and sung to them, and before the night was over had managed to separately engage every single one of the party in conversation. Such kindness and tact made them all his delighted admirers. Everything interested him. He looked at all the pictures, asking about the artists who had painted them. He took up books, bits of china, all sorts of ornaments and curios which lay about, saying something each time that was always worth listening to. He had all the accomplishments that a man could possibly have, and far beyond those owned by most of his peers, and that is saying a great deal, for the Royalties of our day are, singularly enough, all most ex ceptionally accomplished and cultured people. It has become a necessity for them to be so. Languages, music, painting, sculpture, litera ture, all the different forms of sport, all these must the Royalties of Europe of to-day be thoroughly acquainted with, if not proficient in them all themselves.

It seems miraculous how amidst more serious duties they can find time for these accomplishments — but that they do is evident. Prince Maurice was a very Bayard, and in his own country was regarded with the greatest love and reverence — as truly the Hope of Statland. When the ladies had departed for the night and the men had repaired to the smoking-room, the Prince, in a lounging suit, with a briar-wood pipe in his mouth, and a glass of whisky by his side, kept them all PRLNCE MAURICE OF STATLAND. 10 so amused and entertained with his hunting and sporting adventures, that it was some hour in the morning ere they went off to bed, all vowing him to be "a splendid chap ! " Nothing would he touch but whisky — he meant to go in for everything of the country, and on the strength of this, Inver cona — who was "as Highland as Mull" — had promised him that he should taste a haggis, and various other dishes of the country.

I have said that Ronald Stuart had got together a few smart, amusing people to meet the Prince, but I have not yet men tioned them. First of all there was Princess Starenina, with her husband. They were Russians. Prince Starenine was a rather morose man, aged by having lived his life, and rather jealous of his wife, who treated him with some contempt and indifference. It was known that he had once loved her wildly, and even yet bore her a great affection — an affection that was more for her personal beauty, perhaps, than anything else. Princess Starenina was a great contrast to her husband. She was undoubtedly very beautiful, but her beauty was rather heightened by art, and somewhat of a bold type. Her face was very pretty, but had she not been Princess Starenina, and connected with half the Almanac de Gotha, some people would have called it common.

Nevertheless, she was a lovely piece of colour, and it did not matter how much was art and how much nature. She was very amusing, very gay, very naughty, and lived only to please herself an d her male admirers, who were legion. It was difficult to take her little affairs very seriously, though now and then people called her hard names. Caroline Stuart, the most outspoken and strong-minded of the Stuart family, said the Princess Starenina was " a beast," and that she didn't know what they had asked her to Invercona for ; but then Caroline was always so very energetic in her likes and dislikes, and gave expression to them most emphati cally. Princess Starenina was very charming and fascinating, full of spirit and grace ; so what mattered her rather free modes of speech and behaviour ? So said her admirers.

She did not care to play her part on the stage of a provincial theatre, it must be played on the stage of Europe, though what that part was mattered little. This was the Princess's view of the matter. Then there was the Honourable Bertie Chalcot and his delightful, gifted, graceful, and cultured Australian wife. Bertie Chalcot was the kindest-hearted, easiest-going being one could come across, and he and his wife led the most perfectly happy of lives together. Mrs. Chalcot was a dainty, graceful little woman, very small, and with exquisite feet and hands. She had a most interesting and expressive face, full of power and intellect, which lighted up at times into absolute beauty ; she was full of talent, and accom plished and cultured to a considerable degree. She was a woman who was bound to attract notice anywhere by her appearance, which is best described by the old-fashioned word " elegant," and to attract still more attention by her graces of mind.

She had a special gift for dramatic recitation, and had decided stage longings. Her clothes all came from Paris, she knew how to wear them, and had that peculiar attribute which as a rule French and Russian women alone seem to possess, viz., the wearing her clothes as if they grew on her. She had studied under the best dramatic masters through pure love of the drama, and was capable of more than holding her own on any stage in any company. However, it was on the cards that this pretty Australian might one day be Countess of Chalcot, so the stage was not for her. She had lived some time in Italy and loved it so much that she called herself a Neapolitan. Then there was Godfrey Vernon, the owner of a fine old place in Devonshire. He was an annual visitor at Invercona in the autumn, and the hope of his life was that some day he should carry away with him from Invercona, as his bride, Feodore Graham, Mrs. Stuart's niece.

He had loved Feodore for years, and it was a passion that would be with him all his life. They were but boy and girl when first this passion sprang into being, but never once did he alter his determination to call her his ere he died. There was a wild strain in the Vernon blood, and Godfrey was capable of doing startling things to attain any object he had in view. There were other guests at Invercona, but it is not necessary to particularize them. The Stuart family consisted of Invercona and his wife, their two daughters, Caroline and Mabel Stuart, their two sons, Ronald and Diarmid Stuart, and Mrs. Stuart's orphan niece, a wealthy heiress, Feodore Graham. It is of Feodore Graham this story is written. She was a tall, slight, and very graceful girl, with a certain very noticeable distinction about her.

Her face was pale, her features not particularly good in them selves, yet uncommonly attractive as a whole, and she had a wealth of dark-brown hair, which, where the light touched it, was bur nished bronze and gold. She did not strike you at first as being a beautiful or even pretty girl, but there were certain turns of the head, certain gestures, which had a startling grace in them. The wonderful coronal of bronze-gold hair, the perfectly arched dark eyebrows on the white skin, helped to give her the distinctive uncommon beauty which it is undeniable she possessed. At first you saw no beauty, but gradually you dwelt more and more on her face, wondering wherein lay the fascination which you felt. She was original, too, in many ways, but a mass of contradictions. She was amiable, indolent, and rather quiet; she was rather weak, though at the same time obstinate, and when thoroughly roused no one could be brighter, gayer, or more talka tive.

Hers was a character impossible to describe, so full of hidden surprises was it — ■ traits undreamt of until something called them forth. She was different from every one else ; all saw it, all admitted it, but few could say where lay this difference. She was proud of her birth, which, as far as blue blood was concerned, could be sur passed by none. There was some ambition in her nature, but nothing to warn of what later times was to bring forth. Men were attracted by her iu the most singular manner. She had had dozens' of passionate admirers, who could scarce say why they loved her, or where lay the fascination. Of them all she had favoured alone Godfrey Vernon. There was a certain sensual attraction about her which is unex- G plainable ; yet she was cold, proud — dignity and grace itself.

It was only after a time that you perceived there lay behind that calm distinction unfathomed depths of passion and feeling. From the ordinary commonplace point of view, she was simply a pleasant, frank, quiet, well-bred girl, who could be very charming if she chose, and very proud and reserved if it so suited her. I have said much about her, yet explained her character but little — for I cannot. She attracted Prince Maurice from the first moment he saw her, and that the attrac tion was mutual time was to show.

Chapter II

Princess Mathilde of Hessen Rheinstadt considered herself one of the cleverest diplo mates in Europe, but it was an open ques tion whether her numerous relatives and connections agreed with her. She managed to have a finger in every Court intrigue in Europe. She was cer tainly useful to some, and still more cer tainly obnoxious to others. She had great abilities, but her boundless ambition frequently over-rode her good sense, and landed her in straits from which it was difficult to retire in a dignified manner. She never did in these cases retire in a dignified manner, but on certain occasions had had recourse to measures which would have attached a stigma to any woman except this one, who was bold enough to out-face everyone and everything. She not only survived the snubs of almost every Royal Family in Europe, but managed to retaliate in kind, and had really become a power.

Absolutely unscrupulous where her own interests were concerned, it was usually thought wiser to leave her alone. She was connected with all the mediatised princely families of the German empire, and though she bore the title of " Serene High ness," yet she had always hankered after that of Queen, and the power which might accompany that title. This ambition had at last grown a hopeless one so far as she her self was concerned, but though she never could obtain the title of Queen for herself, yet she determined that her son should be a king, and she govern for him. Her son, Prince Herman, was completely under her influence, and was guided by her in everything, allowing the energetic, un tiring, unscrupulous woman to continually push him forward and keep him in evidence before the eyes of the Courts of Europe, he himself doing but little to second her.

She had been a free liver in her youth, so, of course, in her old age — if one could call it old age — she had become ultra-religious ; a religion, however, that did not interfere with her somewhat startling notions of diplomatic morality. The thrones of Saxony, Bavaria, Wurtem burg, and others were not attainable, there fore her attention was turned elsewhere. Prince Eric of Neuenstein ruled in Transvania, and bid fair to erect that State into a perfectly independent kingdom, with an almost absolute monarchy. His position as ruler was not agreeable to some of his most powerful neighbours. Here, then, was her chance; she must oust Prince Eric, obtain Transvania for her son, Prince Herman, and then she felt herself quite capable of obtaining the absolute independence of Transvania, with her son as first absolute monarch.

With the Transvanians on her side, she could snap her fingers at all her enemies. She felt she could be a Catherine the Great, a Maria Theresa, had she only the chance. So she set to work to undermine the secure rulership of Prince Eric. The bane of her life was that Prince Herman, whom she hoped to see King of Transvania, was far more addicted to the pursuit of pretty women than to the pursuit of a kingdom. These women influenced him to such a degree that poor Princess Mathilde had a hard time of it endeavouring to get rid of them. She tried to find a suitable match for him amongst the numerous German houses to which they were allied, but so far without success. Either the princesses in question, or Prince Herman himself, would not see things in the same light as Princess Mathilde, so all these projects had fallen through.

Could she only have gained an English princess for him she would have been happy, but that she had found to be impossible, her overtures being received by the Court of St. James' with marked coldness. Besides, the English Court was much in favour of Prince Eric of Neuenstein. She was determined, though, if it could be done, that her son should supplant Prince Eric, and be eventually proclaimed king of a free and independent Transvania; and, strange as it may seem, this resolution sealed the fate of Feodore Graham, of whom the Princess Mathilde had never even heard ; and, stranger still, through Feodore Graham Prince Eric was to lose his kingdom, and Prince Herman to gain one. Of small matters are great ones bred. There never was a truer saying than that of "a woman being at the bottom of everything."

Chapter III

The day after Prince Maurice's arrival at Invercona was a very wet one — much too wet to think of going out to shoot. The men collected in the gun-room. They examined the different weapons, an animated discussion taking place as to the merits of hammerless guns as opposed to those with hammers, and there was much explaining of wonderful improvements in stocks and barrels. Then the game-book was produced, and Prince Maurice and Count Deyman were somewhat surprised at the paucity of the bags. They were so used to big shoots and battues, that a day on the Invercona hills shooting over dogs would certainly be a novelty to them, as they would have to work hard to get their eight or ten brace each — thanks to the poaching proclivities of the neighbourhood. Tired of the gun-room, they betook them selves to the smoking-room, and when tired of that to the billiard-room, where the ladies had been anxiously awaiting their advent all the morning, though they would not have admitted it.

They found Princess Starenina, with a cigarette between her pretty red lips, playing billiards with Caroline Stuart. The billiard room was of Gothic design, plainly furnished and decorated, and had one large bow window at the end, round which ran a seat. The hangings were all of a dark green tartan, with vivid touches of red. The walls were lined — not panelled — with white pine simply varnished, and all round the walls hung Highland targets and shields of leather bossed with silver and brass, and surrounded with broad swords, cutlasses, and other arms. One or two good stags' heads were nailed here and there, and against each beam of the wooden Gothic gabled roof rested a small shield blazoned in gold and colours with the arms of the Highland clans. A few good etchings and engravings in dark wood frames of subjects by Landseer, Rosa Bonheur, Briton Riviere, and others also adorned the walls.

The ugliness of tartan hangings was redeemed by the Highland and martial character of the whole room. Filled with the gay company it was now, it seemed very cheerful indeed. " Please smoke ! " cried Princess Starenina, "or else I must throw away my cigarette." " You do not mind it ? " the Prince asked of the other ladies. A chorus of negatives greeted him. They all loved cigars and cigarettes — so long as a man was at the end of them ! Not that they gave vent to the last part of this senti ment. " Everyone smokes in here," said Caroline Stuart ; " so please do so, sir. Let us have pool, and then we can all join it." " Not for me," cried Mrs. Chalcot, who detested all sorts of games, and infinitely preferred conversation. " Nor for me," said Feodore Graham, who has a low chair by the fire ; " I am much too lazy.

Between the sight of the rain outside, and the heat of the fire here, I am afraid I shall fall asleep presently." " Then let mine be the pleasant task of trying to keep you awake," said the Prince, drawing another low chair close beside her. "What shall I talk about to keep you from sleeping ? " Feodore blushed to the tips of her pretty ears. " I don't know," she murmured, confusedly. " Tell me — tell me of your country." No one heeds them very much, as all are intent on their game, but Mrs. Chalcot, ensconced in the window seat with an interesting book, glances at them now and then over its back with a rather curious look. They sit there for fully an hour talking together, evidently much interested in each other. Mrs. Chalcot, who knows the world well, tells herself that really Prince Maurice is a dangerous youth to have about !

He is much too interesting and handsome ! Luncheon calls them at last, and a very merry meal it is. A wet day now and then in a shooting lodge is not at all unwelcome, especially to the ladies, though, to be honest, the wet days come rather too frequently in Scotland. How ever, in the country-house, people get the chance of knowing each other better by being thrown on each other's hands on a wet day. Prince Maurice proposes that they should all don mackintoshes or waterproofs, and, armed with umbrellas, sally forth in the rain for a smart constitutional. One umbrella, he proposes, to each couple. The proposition is received with acclamation, and soon they are all gathered at the hall door, a merry if not an elegant party. " I am afraid you'll have to draw lots as to who are to go under the same umbrellas," says Mrs. Stuart, coming to the door.

" Oh ! no, no I " says Princess Starenina, who has made up her mind that Prince Maurice is to be her escort, she having special designs upon him. " Now see, Miss Stuart, you and Prince Starenine start first, and everyone will soon follow." " No ! " says the Prince, who also has special designs, but not on Princess Stare nina, "let us adopt Mrs. Stuart's idea — it will be fun to see who gets who. Now here is a tennis-ball basket and here a pencil. Some paper, someone, please— there I Now write the names of all the men on the papers, put them in the basket, and let each lady pick out a paper. She goes with the man whose name she picks out. Tell me the names — I write them." The Prince wrote the names, they were thrown into the basket, and with much laughter each lady drew one and marched off under the escort of a cavalier.

Almost all the papers had been picked out when the Prince suddenly exclaimed — " Ah I I have forgotten myself ! I have not put my own name ! Someone must have pity on me. Miss Graham, will not you accept me for an escort ? " and before Olga Starenina had time to gasp forth a word, Prince Maurice and Feodore, under the same umbrella, had started after the others, and the poor Princess, biting her lips with vexation, snatched one of the three remaining papers, opened it, and lo ! it was her husband's name ! Prince Starenine proffered his arm with a sarcastic grin, and burning with jealous rage against Feodore Graham, his wife took it. It was not at all what she had bargained for — a dreary tramp through the rain with her morose husband. She looked almost longingly at the stalwart frame of Diarmid Stuart, as he strode along in front of them.

Any young man to flirt with would have been preferred by Olga Starenina to her husband, and the latter knew it. From that hour Princess Starenina became the enemy of unsuspecting Feodore Graham. When two people walk together under an umbrella in the rain, it is much the easiest and the best way to go arm-and-arm. This merry procession soon discovered this, and amidst much laughter the order was given to go in this fashion. Had Prince Maurice thought of this before hand ? I am afraid he had, and more. I am afraid that he made only too good use of his time during that walk, for when they reached D home again Feodore was tremulous and excited, and flew to the solitude of her own room. True, the others had been but a yard or two in front of or behind them, all the way, but words spoken on a wet windy day under an umbrella don't carry very far.

That night there was music and recita tions, and more reel dancing, and much showing of wonderful steps. Diarmid, in his kilt, as were several of the men, danced a Highland fling in the most wonderful manner. Then after much persuasion, and bringing Invercona himself in from the smoking-room to supplement their entreaties, Mrs. Chalcot is prevailed upon to stand up and dance for them. This is one of her many accomplishments, and anything more wonderful or graceful than the performance she treats them to one could not imagine. She seldom dances at a ball, aud it is only on rare occasions that she can be prevailed upon to dance thus before people. She has castanets, and her husband accompanying her on the piano, she gives them gipsy and Spanish dances, and I know not what other wonderful bewitching dances — the very poetry of motion.

The dances are somewhat marred by her long trained gown, but, nevertheless, anything more charming there could not be. Every one is enthusiastic, and Olga Starenina vows that she will take lessons in these national dances, and electrify St. Petersburg in the coming season. As the ladies bid good-night and leave the room, Feodore drops her lace-bordered hand kerchief — whether accidentally or not, who can say ? — and Prince Maurice picking it up, and making a pretence of restoring it to her, puts it in his own pocket ! The days at Invercona are not dull, there always seems much to do. Invercona is a pretty place — in a quiet, primitive, peaceful sort of way — but it is neither a large estate nor an imposing man sion. It is, in truth, a very hideous house, redeemed only by the peaceful beauty of its surroundings.

The Stuart girls hate it. They say it is so dull. No place is dull, it is the people in it who make a house either gay or dull. With dull people all places are dull. With pleasant people the desert of Sahara would be pleasant to dwell in. The men are out shooting almost daily, and both the Prince and Count Deyman are enthusiastic over the sport, though really the bags are very small. Then they have some fishing at a distant lake, lunching with the ladies by the side of — of course — Fingal's tomb. What does it matter that they get but few fish — is not the day, the boating, the whole thing, pleasant ? What appetites they all have for these outdoor luncheons ! Then the ladies sometimes join them at luncheon on the hill, and but little shooting is done that day. In these few days the attraction which Feodore Graham has for the Prince has increased so much that his thoughts are with her all day long.