V + 

The Adventures of an Understudy + 

With Fritz von Tarlenheim and Colonel Sapt close behind me, I stepped out of the buffet on to the platform. The last thing I did was to feel if my revolver were handy and my sword loose in the scabbard. A gay group of officers and high dignitaries stood awaiting me, at their head a tall old man, covered with medals, and of military bearing. He wore the yellow and red ribbon of the Red Rose of RuritaniaтБатАФwhich, by the way, decorated my unworthy breast also. + 

тАЬMarshal Strakencz,тАЭ whispered Sapt, and I knew that I was in the presence of the most famous veteran of the Ruritanian army. + 

Just behind the marshal stood a short spare man, in flowing robes of black and crimson. + 

тАЬThe chancellor of the kingdom,тАЭ whispered Sapt. + 

The marshal greeted me in a few loyal words, and proceeded to deliver an apology from the Duke of Strelsau. The duke, it seemed, had been afflicted with a sudden indisposition which made it impossible for him to come to the station, but he craved leave to await his Majesty at the cathedral. I expressed my concern, accepted the marshalтАЩs excuses very suavely, and received the compliments of a large number of distinguished personages. No one betrayed the least suspicion, and I felt my nerve returning and the agitated beating of my heart subsiding. But Fritz was still pale, and his hand shook like a leaf as he extended it to the marshal. + 

Presently we formed procession and took our way to the door of the station. Here I mounted my horse, the marshal holding my stirrup. The civil dignitaries went off to their carriages, and I started to ride through the streets with the marshal on my right and Sapt (who, as my chief aide-de-camp, was entitled to the place) on my left. The city of Strelsau is partly old and partly new. Spacious modern boulevards and residential quarters surround and embrace the narrow, tortuous, and picturesque streets of the original town. In the outer circles the upper classes live; in the inner the shops are situated; and, behind their prosperous fronts, lie hidden populous but wretched lanes and alleys, filled with a poverty-stricken, turbulent, and (in large measure) criminal class. These social and local divisions corresponded, as I knew from SaptтАЩs information, to another division more important to me. The New Town was for the king; but to the Old Town Michael of Strelsau was a hope, a hero, and a darling. + 

The scene was very brilliant as we passed along the Grand Boulevard and on to the great square where the royal palace stood. Here I was in the midst of my devoted adherents. Every house was hung with red and bedecked with flags and mottoes. The streets were lined with raised seats on each side, and I passed along, bowing this way and that, under a shower of cheers, blessings, and waving handkerchiefs. The balconies were full of gaily dressed ladies, who clapped their hands and curtsied and threw their brightest glances at me. A torrent of red roses fell on me; one bloom lodged in my horseтАЩs mane, and I took it and stuck it in my coat. The marshal smiled grimly. I had stolen some glances at his face, but he was too impassive to show me whether his sympathies were with me or not. + 

тАЬThe red rose for the Elphbergs, marshal,тАЭ said I gaily, and he nodded. + 

I have written тАЬgaily,тАЭ and a strange word it must seem. But the truth is, that I was drunk with excitement. At that moment I believedтБатАФI almost believedтБатАФthat I was in very truth the king; and, with a look of laughing triumph, I raised my eyes to the beauty-laden balconies againтБатАКтБатАж and then I started. For, looking down on me, with her handsome face and proud smile, was the lady who had been my fellow travellerтБатАФAntoinette de Mauban; and I saw her also start, and her lips moved, and she leant forward and gazed at me. And I, collecting myself, met her eyes full and square, while again I felt my revolver. Suppose she had cried aloud, тАЬThatтАЩs not the king!тАЭ + 

Well, we went by; and then the marshal, turning round in his saddle, waved his hand, and the Cuirassiers closed round us, so that the crowd could not come near me. We were leaving my quarter and entering Duke MichaelтАЩs, and this action of the marshalтАЩs showed me more clearly than words what the state of feeling in the town must be. But if Fate made me a king, the least I could do was to play the part handsomely. + 

тАЬWhy this change in our order, marshal?тАЭ said I. + 

The marshal bit his white moustache. + 

тАЬIt is more prudent, sire,тАЭ he murmured. + 

I drew rein. + 

тАЬLet those in front ride on,тАЭ said I, тАЬtill they are fifty yards ahead. But do you, marshal, and Colonel Sapt and my friends, wait here till I have ridden fifty yards. And see that no one is nearer to me. I will have my people see that their king trusts them.тАЭ + 

Sapt laid his hand on my arm. I shook him off. The marshal hesitated. + 

тАЬAm I not understood?тАЭ said I; and, biting his moustache again, he gave the orders. I saw old Sapt smiling into his beard, but he shook his head at me. If I had been killed in open day in the streets of Strelsau, SaptтАЩs position would have been a difficult one. + 

Perhaps I ought to say that I was dressed all in white, except my boots. I wore a silver helmet with gilt ornaments, and the broad ribbon of the Rose looked well across my chest. I should be paying a poor compliment to the king if I did not set modesty aside and admit that I made a very fine figure. So the people thought; for when I, riding alone, entered the dingy, sparsely decorated, sombre streets of the Old Town, there was first a murmur, then a cheer, and a woman, from a window above a cookshop, cried the old local saying: + 

тАЬIf heтАЩs red, heтАЩs right!тАЭ whereat I laughed and took off my helmet that she might see that I was of the right colour and they cheered me again at that. + 

It was more interesting riding thus alone, for I heard the comments of the crowd. + 

тАЬHe looks paler than his wont,тАЭ said one. + 

тАЬYouтАЩd look pale if you lived as he does,тАЭ was the highly disrespectful retort. + 

тАЬHeтАЩs a bigger man than I thought,тАЭ said another. + 

тАЬSo he had a good jaw under that beard after all,тАЭ commented a third. + 

тАЬThe pictures of him arenтАЩt handsome enough,тАЭ declared a pretty girl, taking great care that I should hear. No doubt it was mere flattery. + 

But, in spite of these signs of approval and interest, the mass of the people received me in silence and with sullen looks, and my dear brotherтАЩs portrait ornamented most of the windowsтБатАФwhich was an ironical sort of greeting to the king. I was quite glad that he had been spared the unpleasant sight. He was a man of quick temper, and perhaps he would not have taken it so placidly as I did. + 

At last we were at the cathedral. Its great grey front, embellished with hundreds of statues and boasting a pair of the finest oak doors in Europe, rose for the first time before me, and the sudden sense of my audacity almost overcame me. Everything was in a mist as I dismounted. I saw the marshal and Sapt dimly, and dimly the throng of gorgeously robed priests who awaited me. And my eyes were still dim as I walked up the great nave, with the pealing of the organ in my ears. I saw nothing of the brilliant throng that filled it, I hardly distinguished the stately figure of the cardinal as he rose from the archiepiscopal throne to greet me. Two faces only stood out side by side clearly before my eyesтБатАФthe face of a girl, pale and lovely, surmounted by a crown of the glorious Elphberg hair (for in a woman it is glorious), and the face of a man, whose full-blooded red cheeks, black hair, and dark deep eyes told me that at last I was in the presence of my brother, Black Michael. And when he saw me his red cheeks went pale all in a moment, and his helmet fell with a clatter on the floor. Till that moment I believe that he had not realized that the king was in very truth come to Strelsau. + 

Of what followed next I remember nothing. I knelt before the altar and the cardinal anointed my head. Then I rose to my feet, and stretched out my hand and took from him the crown of Ruritania and set it on my head, and I swore the old oath of the king; and (if it were a sin, may it be forgiven me) I received the Holy Sacrament there before them all. Then the great organ pealed out again, the marshal bade the heralds proclaim me, and Rudolf the Fifth was crowned king; of which imposing ceremony an excellent picture hangs now in my dining room. The portrait of the king is very good. + 

Then the lady with the pale face and the glorious hair, her train held by two pages, stepped from her place and came to where I stood. And a herald cried: + 

тАЬHer Royal Highness the Princess Flavia!тАЭ + 

She curtsied low, and put her hand under mine and raised my hand and kissed it. And for an instant I thought what I had best do. Then I drew her to me and kissed her twice on the cheek, and she blushed red, andтБатАФthen his Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop slipped in front of Black Michael, and kissed my hand and presented me with a letter from the PopeтБатАФthe first and last which I have received from that exalted quarter! + 

And then came the Duke of Strelsau. His step trembled, I swear, and he looked to the right and to the left, as a man looks who thinks on flight; and his face was patched with red and white, and his hand shook so that it jumped under mine, and I felt his lips dry and parched. And I glanced at Sapt, who was smiling again into his beard, and, resolutely doing my duty in that station of life to which I had been marvellously called, I took my dear Michael by both hands and kissed him on the cheek. I think we were both glad when that was over! + 

But neither in the face of the princess nor in that of any other did I see the least doubt or questioning. Yet, had I and the king stood side by side, she could have told us in an instant, or, at least, on a little consideration. But neither she nor anyone else dreamed or imagined that I could be other than the king. So the likeness served, and for an hour I stood there, feeling as weary and blas├й as though I had been a king all my life; and everybody kissed my hand, and the ambassadors paid me their respects, among them old Lord Topham, at whose house in Grosvenor Square I had danced a score of times. Thank heaven, the old man was as blind as a bat, and did not claim my acquaintance. + 

Then back we went through the streets to the palace, and I heard them cheering Black Michael; but he, Fritz told me, sat biting his nails like a man in a reverie, and even his own friends said that he should have made a braver show. I was in a carriage now, side by side with the Princess Flavia, and a rough fellow cried out: + 

тАЬAnd whenтАЩs the wedding?тАЭ and as he spoke another struck him in the face, crying тАЬLong live Duke Michael!тАЭ and the princess colouredтБатАФit was an admirable tintтБатАФand looked straight in front of her. + 

Now I felt in a difficulty, because I had forgotten to ask Sapt the state of my affections, or how far matters had gone between the princess and myself. Frankly, had I been the king, the further they had gone the better should I have been pleased. For I am not a slow-blooded man, and I had not kissed Princess FlaviaтАЩs cheek for nothing. These thoughts passed through my head, but, not being sure of my ground, I said nothing; and in a moment or two the princess, recovering her equanimity, turned to me. + 

тАЬDo you know, Rudolf,тАЭ said she, тАЬyou look somehow different today?тАЭ + 

The fact was not surprising, but the remark was disquieting. + 

тАЬYou look,тАЭ she went on, тАЬmore sober, more sedate; youтАЩre almost careworn, and I declare youтАЩre thinner. Surely itтАЩs not possible that youтАЩve begun to take anything seriously?тАЭ + 

The princess seemed to hold of the king much the same opinion that Lady Burlesdon held of me. + 

I braced myself up to the conversation. + 

тАЬWould that please you?тАЭ I asked softly. + 

тАЬOh, you know my views,тАЭ said she, turning her eyes away. + 

тАЬWhatever pleases you I try to do,тАЭ I said; and, as I saw her smile and blush, I thought that I was playing the kingтАЩs hand very well for him. So I continued and what I said was perfectly true: + 

тАЬI assure you, my dear cousin, that nothing in my life has affected me more than the reception IтАЩve been greeted with today.тАЭ + 

She smiled brightly, but in an instant grew grave again, and whispered: + 

тАЬDid you notice Michael?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes,тАЭ said I, adding, тАЬhe wasnтАЩt enjoying himself.тАЭ + 

тАЬDo be careful!тАЭ she went on. тАЬYou donтАЩtтБатАФindeed you donтАЩtтБатАФkeep enough watch on him. You knowтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI know,тАЭ said I, тАЬthat he wants what IтАЩve got.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes. Hush!тАЭ + 

ThenтБатАФand I canтАЩt justify it, for I committed the king far beyond what I had a right to doтБатАФI suppose she carried me off my feetтБатАФI went on: + 

тАЬAnd perhaps also something which I havenтАЩt got yet, but hope to win some day.тАЭ + 

This was my answer. Had I been the king, I should have thought it encouraging: + 

тАЬHavenтАЩt you enough responsibilities on you for one day, cousin?тАЭ + 

Bang, bang! Blare, blare! We were at the palace. Guns were firing and trumpets blowing. Rows of lackeys stood waiting, and, handing the princess up the broad marble staircase, I took formal possession, as a crowned king, of the house of my ancestors, and sat down at my own table, with my cousin on my right hand, on her other side Black Michael, and on my left his Eminence the Cardinal. Behind my chair stood Sapt; and at the end of the table, I saw Fritz von Tarlenheim drain to the bottom his glass of champagne rather sooner than he decently should. + 

I wondered what the King of Ruritania was doing. + 