Page:Stevenson - Prince Otto. A Romance.djvu/154

 ‘It was?’ asked Otto. ‘Strange! Upon what fancied grounds?’

‘The grounds were indeed fanciful,’ returned the Baron. ‘It was conceived among the leaders that a territorial army, drawn from and returning to the people, would, in the event of any popular uprising, prove lukewarm or unfaithful to the throne.’

‘I see,’ said the Prince. ‘I begin to understand.’

‘His Highness begins to understand?’ repeated Gondremark, with the sweetest politeness. ‘May I beg of him to complete the phrase?’

‘The history of the revolution,’ replied Otto dryly. ‘And now,’ he added, ‘what do you conclude?’

‘I conclude, your Highness, with a simple reflection,’ said the Baron, accepting the stab without a quiver, ‘the war is popular; were the rumour contradicted to-morrow, a considerable disappointment would be felt in many classes; and in the present tension of spirits, the most lukewarm sentiment may be enough to precipitate events. There lies the danger. The revolution hangs imminent; we sit, at this council board, below the sword of Damocles.’

‘We must then lay our heads together,’ said the Prince, ‘and devise some honourable means of safety.’