The Midnight Queen [63]
Sir Norman looked steadfastly at the queen as she
received it. One of the gauzy nymphs presented it to her,
kneeling, and she took it with a look half bored, half impatient,
and lightly scrawled her autograph. The long, dark lashes did
not lift; no change passed over the calm, cold face, as icily
placid as a frozen lake in the moonlight - evidently the life or
death of the stranger was less than nothing to her. To him she,
too, was as nothing, or nearly so; but yet there was a sharp
jarring pain at his heart, as he saw that fair hand, that had
saved him once, so coolly sign his death warrant now. But there
was little time left for to watch her; for, as she pushed it
impatiently away, and relapsed into her former proud
listlessness, the dwarf got up with one of his death's-head
grins, and began:
"Sir Norman Kingsley, you have been tried and convicted as a spy,
and the paid-hireling of the vindictive and narrow-minded
Charles; and the sentence of this court, over which I have the
honor to preside, is, that you be taken hence immediately to the
place of execution, and there lose your head by the axe!"
"And a mighty small loss it will be!" remarked the duke to
himself, in a sort of parenthesis, as the dwarf concluded his
pleasant observation by thrusting himself forward across the
table, after his rather discomposing fashion, and breaking out
into one of has diabolical laughter-chips.
The queen, who had been sitting passive, and looking as if she
were in spirit a thousand miles away, now started up with sharp
suddenness, and favored his highness with one of her fieriest
fiery glances.
"Will your highness just permit somebody else to have a voice in
that matter? How many more trials are to come on tonight?"
"Only one," replied the duke, glancing over a little roll which
he held; "Lady Castlemaine's, for poisoning the Duchess of
Sutherland."
"And what is my Lady Castlemaine's fate to be?"
"The same as our friend's here, in all probability," nodding
easily, not to say playfully, at Sir Norman.
"And how long will her trial last?"
"Half an hour, or thereabouts. There are some secrets in the
matter that have to be investigated, and which will require some
time."
"Then let all the trials be over first, and all the beheadings
take place together. We don't choose to take the trouble of
traveling to the Black Chamber just to see his head chopped off,
and then have the same journey to undergo half an hour after, for
a similar purpose. Call Lady Castlemaine, and let this prisoner
be taken to one of the dungeons, and there remain until the time
for execution. Guards, do you hear? Take him away!"
The dwarf's face grew black as a thunder-cloud, and he jumped to
his feet and confronted the queen with a look so intensely ugly
that no other earthly face could have assumed it. But that lady
merely met it with one of cold disdain and aversion, and, keeping
her dark bright eyes fixed chillingly upon him, waved her white
hand, in her imperious way, to the guards. Those warlike
gentlemen knew better than to disobey her most gracious majesty
when she happened to be, like Mrs. Joe Gargary, on the "rampage,"
which, if her flashing eye and a certain expression about her
handsome mouth spoke the truth, must have been twenty hours out
of the twenty-four. As the soldiers approached to lead him away,
Sir Norman tried to catch her eye; but in vain, for she kept
those brilliant optics most unwinkingly fixed on the dwarf's
face.
"Call Lady Castlemaine," commanded the duke, as Sir Norman with
his guards passed through the doorway leading to the Black
Chamber. "Your highness, I presume, is ready to attend to her
case."
"Before I attend to hers or any one else's case," said the dwarf,
hopping over the table like an overgrown toad, "I will first see
that this guest of ours is properly taken care, of,
received it. One of the gauzy nymphs presented it to her,
kneeling, and she took it with a look half bored, half impatient,
and lightly scrawled her autograph. The long, dark lashes did
not lift; no change passed over the calm, cold face, as icily
placid as a frozen lake in the moonlight - evidently the life or
death of the stranger was less than nothing to her. To him she,
too, was as nothing, or nearly so; but yet there was a sharp
jarring pain at his heart, as he saw that fair hand, that had
saved him once, so coolly sign his death warrant now. But there
was little time left for to watch her; for, as she pushed it
impatiently away, and relapsed into her former proud
listlessness, the dwarf got up with one of his death's-head
grins, and began:
"Sir Norman Kingsley, you have been tried and convicted as a spy,
and the paid-hireling of the vindictive and narrow-minded
Charles; and the sentence of this court, over which I have the
honor to preside, is, that you be taken hence immediately to the
place of execution, and there lose your head by the axe!"
"And a mighty small loss it will be!" remarked the duke to
himself, in a sort of parenthesis, as the dwarf concluded his
pleasant observation by thrusting himself forward across the
table, after his rather discomposing fashion, and breaking out
into one of has diabolical laughter-chips.
The queen, who had been sitting passive, and looking as if she
were in spirit a thousand miles away, now started up with sharp
suddenness, and favored his highness with one of her fieriest
fiery glances.
"Will your highness just permit somebody else to have a voice in
that matter? How many more trials are to come on tonight?"
"Only one," replied the duke, glancing over a little roll which
he held; "Lady Castlemaine's, for poisoning the Duchess of
Sutherland."
"And what is my Lady Castlemaine's fate to be?"
"The same as our friend's here, in all probability," nodding
easily, not to say playfully, at Sir Norman.
"And how long will her trial last?"
"Half an hour, or thereabouts. There are some secrets in the
matter that have to be investigated, and which will require some
time."
"Then let all the trials be over first, and all the beheadings
take place together. We don't choose to take the trouble of
traveling to the Black Chamber just to see his head chopped off,
and then have the same journey to undergo half an hour after, for
a similar purpose. Call Lady Castlemaine, and let this prisoner
be taken to one of the dungeons, and there remain until the time
for execution. Guards, do you hear? Take him away!"
The dwarf's face grew black as a thunder-cloud, and he jumped to
his feet and confronted the queen with a look so intensely ugly
that no other earthly face could have assumed it. But that lady
merely met it with one of cold disdain and aversion, and, keeping
her dark bright eyes fixed chillingly upon him, waved her white
hand, in her imperious way, to the guards. Those warlike
gentlemen knew better than to disobey her most gracious majesty
when she happened to be, like Mrs. Joe Gargary, on the "rampage,"
which, if her flashing eye and a certain expression about her
handsome mouth spoke the truth, must have been twenty hours out
of the twenty-four. As the soldiers approached to lead him away,
Sir Norman tried to catch her eye; but in vain, for she kept
those brilliant optics most unwinkingly fixed on the dwarf's
face.
"Call Lady Castlemaine," commanded the duke, as Sir Norman with
his guards passed through the doorway leading to the Black
Chamber. "Your highness, I presume, is ready to attend to her
case."
"Before I attend to hers or any one else's case," said the dwarf,
hopping over the table like an overgrown toad, "I will first see
that this guest of ours is properly taken care, of,