If by any chance he should
be discovered in the house no ordinary excuses would explain away his
presence, and as she pondered the matter, it was Armitage's plight--his
injuries and the dangers that beset him--that was uppermost in her mind.
The embarrassment that lay in the affair for herself if Armitage should
be found concealed in the house troubled her little. Her heart beat
wildly as she realized this; and the look in his eyes and the quick pain
that twitched his face at the door haunted her.
The two men were talking of the new order of things in Vienna.
"The trouble is," said the Ambassador, "that Austria-Hungary is not a
nation, but what Metternich called Italy--a geographical expression.
Where there are so many loose ends a strong grasp is necessary to hold
them together."
"And a weak hand," suggested Judge Claiborne, "might easily lose or
scatter them."
"Precisely. And a man of character and spirit could topple down the
card-house to-morrow, pick out what he liked, and create for himself a
new edifice--and a stronger one. I speak frankly. Von Stroebel is out of
the way; the new Emperor-king is a weakling, and if he should die
to-night or to-morrow--"
The Ambassador lifted his hands and snapped his fingers.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227