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But in the small army and the smaller bureaucracy there was plotting and undermining. Subtle and devious temptations were employed. Captains saw before them the shoulder straps of the major, lieutenants the insignia of the captain, privates the chevrons of the sergeant. Meanwhile, from a town in southerly Europe, near the Galavian frontier, Monsieur Jusseret in person was alertly watching.
That done, his patriotism will prove our ally. We have only to convince him that no member of Karyl's house can reign and live and that it must be himself or an alien." "It would have been as easy," demurred the Portuguese delegate, "to have persuaded Von Ritz that Karyl himself should abdicate." Jusseret felt the hostility of the other members.
I'm looking for something to do, and in my condition" he glanced deprecatingly down at his faded tweeds "one can't be over nice in selecting one's business associates." Jusseret was secretly pleased. He divined that before the end came there might be use for Martin, though no immediate need of him suggested itself.
It appeared that being a King was not what he had conceived it, as he sat under the chestnut trees of the Paris boulevards and listened to the band. When Jusseret had left him to his thoughts he paused three times with a tremulous finger on the call-bell, unable to command the courage required to send a message to the Countess Astaride.
This love could be turned into the fanatic's zeal; this boy could be led to the extreme of martyrdom, if the strings of his characterless nature were played upon with a skill sufficiently consummate. Jusseret knew also a number of other things. He knew that whereas he had, to all seeming, brought a difficult task to completion, he was in reality not yet half through.
Martin, the "English Jackal," much depleted in fortune, drifting before vagabond winds and hailing last from Malta, learned of the Frenchman's seemingly empty programme. Since his dismissal by the Countess, there had been no employer for his unscrupulous talents. Now he needed funds. Where Jusseret operated there might be work in his particular line.
To defend his reputation would be a waste of time. "Madame la Comptesse d'Astaride," explained Jusseret, "has gone to Cairo. She may require your wits as well as her own before the game is played out. Join her there and take your instructions from her." As he spoke the map-reviser began counting bills from his well-supplied purse. Martin looked at them avidly, then objected with a surly frown.
Any matters of interest to France will receive His Majesty's attention when they reach him through France's properly accredited ambassador." Yet five minutes later, Jusseret, escorted by several officers in the Galavian uniform, entered the garden through the door of the King's private suite. At the monstrous insolence of this forbidden invasion of Karyl's privacy, Von Ritz stepped forward.
Then she took up his cause; intrigued, enlisted our interests, raised his supine and powerless ambitions to a throne. There he abandons her at the foot of the stairs by which he mounted; and refuses her his Crown. He talks now of a more Royal alliance." Jusseret spread his hands in a gesture of disgust. Lapas rose tensely from his chair. The veins on his temples stood out corded and deep-lined.
The Pretender's face paled. "Do you mean, Monsieur Jusseret, that after enticing me into this mad enterprise you now purpose to abandon me?" The coward's terror added excitement to the questioning voice. Jusseret smiled. "By no means," he assured. "But Your Majesty must now play your part.
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