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 CHAPTER XVI. A DESPERATE PLAN. I had ridden publicly in Zenda, and had talked there with Rupert Hentzau, of course all pretense of illness was at an end. I marked the effect on the garrison of Zenda: they ceased to be seen abroad; and any of my men who went near the castle reported that the utmost vigilance prevailed there. Touched as I was by Mme. de Mauban's appeal, I seemed as powerless to befriend her as I had proved to help the king. Michael bade me defiance; and—although he too had been seen outside the walls—with more disregard for appearances than he had hitherto shown, he did not take the trouble to send any excuse for his failure to wait on the king. Time ran on in inactivity, when every moment was pressing; for not only was I faced with the new danger which the stir about my own disappearance brought on me, but great murmurs had