Fiction > Book editions > London, 1885 - Prince Otto

28o PRIXCE OTTO
to be a loser. I propose instead that you should
take me with you, a bear in chains, to Baron
Gondremark. I am become perfectly unscru-
pulous : to save my wife I will do all, all he can
ask or fancy. He shall be filled ; were he huge
as leviathan and greedy as the grave, I will con-
tent him. And you, the fair}^ of our pantomime,
shall have the credit.'
' Done ! ' she cried. ' Admirable ! Prince
Charming no longer — Prince Sorcerer, Prince
Solon ! Let us go this moment. Stay,' she
cried, pausing. ' I beg, dear Prince, to give you
back these deeds. 'Twas you who liked the farm
— I have not seen it ; and it was you who wished
to benefit the peasants. And, besides,' she added,
with a comical change of tone, ' I should prefer
the ready money.'
Both laughed. ' Here I am, once more a
farmer,' said Otto, accepting the papers, ' but
overwhelmed in debt.'
The Countess touched a bell, and the Gover-
nor appeared.
' Governor,' she said, ' I am going to elope
with his Highness. The result of our talk has
been a thorough understanding, and the coup
(Tetat is over. Here is the order.'
Colonel Gordon adjusted silver spectacles
upon his nose. ' Yes,' he said, ' the Princess :