And so in silence the Voivode passed out of the hall.
From my seat near a window I could watch him go, as with measured stepshe passed up the hill which rises behind the State House, and disappearedinto the shadow of the forest. Then my work claimed me, for I wished torecord the proceedings so far whilst all was fresh in my mind. Insilence, as of the dead, the Council waited, no man challenging opinionof his neighbour even by a glance.
Almost a full hour had elapsed when the Voivode came again to theCouncil, moving with slow and stately gravity, as has always been hiswont since age began to hamper the movement which in youth had been sonotable. The Members of the Council all stood up uncovered, and soremained while he made announcement of his conclusion. He spoke slowly;and as his answer was to be a valued record of this Land and its Race, Iwrote down every word as uttered, leaving here and there space fordescription or comment, which spaces I have since then filled in.
"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of the Councilof Justice and of National Law, Archimandrites, and my brothers all, Ihave, since I left you, held in the solitude of the forest counsel withmyself--and with God; and He, in His gracious wisdom, has led my thinkingto that conclusion which was from the first moment of knowledge of yourintent presaged in my heart. Brothers, you know--or else a long life hasbeen spent in vain--that my heart and mind are all for the nation--myexperience, my life, my handjar. And when all is for her, why should Ishrink to exercise on her behalf my riper judgment though the same shouldhave to combat my own ambition? For ten centuries my race has not failedin its duty. Ages ago the men of that time trusted in the hands of myancestors the Kingship, even as now you, their children, trust me. Butto me it would be base to betray that trust, even by the smallest tittle.That would I do were I to take the honour of the crown which you havetendered to me, so long as there is another more worthy to wear it. Werethere none other, I should place myself in your hands, and yield myselfover to blind obedience of your desires. But such an one there is; dearto you already by his own deeds, now doubly dear to me, since he is myson by my daughter's love. He is young, whereas I am old. He is strongand brave and true; but my days of the usefulness of strength and braveryare over. For myself, I have long contemplated as the crown of my lateryears a quiet life in one of our monasteries, where I can still watch thewhirl of the world around us on your behalf, and be a counsellor ofyounger men of more active minds. Brothers, we are entering on stirringtimes. I can see the signs of their coming all around us. North andSouth--the Old Order and the New, are about to clash, and we lie betweenthe opposing forces. True it is that the Turk, after warring for athousand years, is fading into insignificance. But from the North whereconquests spring, have crept towards our Balkans the men of a mightiercomposite Power. Their march has been steady; and as they came, theyfortified every step of the way. Now they are hard upon us, and arealready beginning to swallow up the regions that we have helped to winfrom the dominion of Mahound. The Austrian is at our very gates. Beatenback by the Irredentists of Italy, she has so enmeshed herself with theGreat Powers of Europe that she seems for the moment to be impregnable toa foe of our stature. There is but one hope for us--the uniting of theBalkan forces to turn a masterly front to North and West as well as toSouth and East. Is that a task for old hands to undertake? No; thehands must be young and supple; and the brain subtle, as well as theheart be strong, of whomsoever would dare such an accomplishment. ShouldI accept the crown, it would only postpone the doing of that which mustultimately be done. What avail would it be if, when the darkness closesover me, my daughter should be Queen Consort to the first King of a newdynasty? You know this man, and from your record I learn that you arealready willing to have him as King to follow me. Why not begin withhim? He comes of a great nation, wherein the principle of freedom is avital principle that quickens all things. That nation has more than onceshown to us its friendliness; and doubtless the very fact that anEnglishman would become our King, and could carry into our Government thespirit and customs which have made his own country great, would do muchto restore the old friendship, and even to create a new one, which wouldin times of trouble bring British fleets to our
waters, and Britishbayonets to support our own handjars. It is within my own knowledge,though as yet unannounced to you, that Rupert Sent Leger has alreadyobtained a patent, signed by the King of England himself, allowing him tobe denaturalized in England, so that he can at once apply fornaturalization here. I know also that he has brought hither a vastfortune, by aid of which he is beginning to strengthen our hands for war,in case that sad eventuality should arise. Witness his late ordering tobe built nine other warships of the class that has already done sucheffective service in overthrowing the Turk--or the pirate, whichever hemay have been. He has undertaken the defence of the Blue Mouth at hisown cost in a way which will make it stronger than Gibraltar, and secureus against whatever use to which the Austrian may apply the vast forcesalready gathered in the Bocche di Cattaro. He is already founding aerialstations on our highest peaks for use of the war aeroplanes which arebeing built for him. It is such a man as this who makes a nation great;and right sure I am that in his hands this splendid land and our noble,freedom-loving people will flourish and become a power in the world.Then, brothers, let me, as one to whom this nation and its history andits future are dear, ask you to give to the husband of my daughter thehonour which you would confer on me. For her I can speak as well as formyself. She shall suffer nothing in dignity either. Were I indeed King,she, as my daughter, would be a Princess of the world. As it will be,she shall be companion and Queen of a great King, and her race, which ismine, shall flourish in all the lustre of the new Dynasty.
"Therefore on all accounts, my brothers, for the sake of our dear Land ofthe Blue Mountains, make the Gospodar Rupert, who has so proved himself,your King. And make me happy in my retirement to the cloister."
When the Voivode ceased to speak, all still remained silent and standing.But there was no mistaking their acquiescence in his most generousprayer. The President of the Council well interpreted the general wishwhen he said:
"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of theCouncils of Justice and National Law, Archimandrites, and all who arepresent, is it agreed that we prepare at leisure a fitting reply to theVoivode Peter of the historic House of Vissarion, stating our agreementwith his wish?"
To which there was a unanimous answer:
"It is." He went on:
"Further. Shall we ask the Gospodar Rupert of the House of Sent Leger,allied through his marriage to the Voivodin Teuta, daughter and onlychild of the Voivode Peter of Vissarion, to come hither to-morrow? Andthat, when he is amongst us, we confer on him the Crown and Kingship ofthe Land of the Blue Mountains?"
Again came the answer: "It is."
But this time it rang out like the sound of a gigantic trumpet, and thehandjars flashed.
Whereupon the session was adjourned for the space of a day.
THE SAME--_Continued_.
_September_ 10, 1907.
When the National Council met to-day the Voivode Peter Vissarion sat withthem, but well back, so that at first his presence was hardly noticeable.After the necessary preliminaries had been gone through, they requestedthe presence of the Gospodar Rupert--Mr. Rupert Sent Leger--who wasreported as waiting in the "Chamber of the High Officers." He at onceaccompanied back to the Hall the deputation sent to conduct him. As hemade his appearance in the doorway the Councillors stood up. There was aburst of enthusiasm, and the handjars flashed. For an instant he stoodsilent, with lifted hand, as though indicating that he wished to speak.So soon as this was recognized, silence fell on the assembly, and hespoke:
"I pray you, may the Voivodin Teuta of Vissarion, who has accompanied mehither, appear with me to hear your wishes?" There was an immediate andenthusiastic acquiescence, and, after bowing his thanks, he retired toconduct her.
Her appearance was received with an ovation similar to that given toGospodar Rupert, to which she bowed with dignified sweetness. She, withher husband, was conducted to the top of the Hall by the President, whocame down to escort them. In the meantime another chair had been placedbeside that prepared for the Gospodar, and these two sat.
The President then made the formal statement conveying to the "GospodarRupert" the wishes of the Council, on behalf of the nation, to offer tohim the Crown and Kingship of the Land of the Blue Mountains. Themessage was couched in almost the same words as had been used theprevious day in making the offer to the Voivode Peter Vissarion, onlydiffering to meet the special circumstances. The Gospodar Rupertlistened in grave silence. The whole thing was manifestly quite new tohim, but he preserved a self-control wonderful under the circumstances.When, having been made aware of the previous offer to the Voivode and thedeclared wish of the latter, he rose to speak, there was stillness in theHall. He commenced with a few broken words of thanks; then he grewsuddenly and strangely calm as he went on:
"But before I can even attempt to make a fitting reply, I should know ifit is contemplated to join with me in this great honour my dear wife theVoivodin Teuta of Vissarion, who has so splendidly proved her worthinessto hold any place in the government of the Land. I fain would . . . "
He was interrupted by the Voivodin, who, standing up beside him andholding his left arm, said:
"Do not, President, and Lords all, think me wanting in that respect of awife for husband which in the Blue Mountains we hold so dear, if Iventure to interrupt my lord. I am here, not merely as a wife, but asVoivodin of Vissarion, and by the memory of all the noble women of thatnoble line I feel constrained to a great duty. We women of Vissarion, inall the history of centuries, have never put ourselves forward in rivalryof our lords. Well I know that my own dear lord will forgive me as wifeif I err; but I speak to you, the Council of the nation, from anotherground and with another tongue. My lord does not, I fear, know as youdo, and as I do too, that of old, in the history of this Land, whenKingship was existent, that it was ruled by that law of masculinesupremacy which, centuries after, became known as the _Lex Salica_.Lords of the Council of the Blue Mountains, I am a wife of the BlueMountains--as a wife young as yet, but with the blood of fortygenerations of loyal women in my veins. And it would ill become me, whommy husband honours--wife to the man whom you would honour--to take a partin changing the ancient custom which has been held in honour for all thethousand years, which is the glory of Blue Mountain womanhood. What anexample such would be in an age when self-seeking women of other nationsseek to forget their womanhood in the struggle to vie in equality withmen! Men of the Blue Mountains, I speak for our women when I say that wehold of greatest price the glory of our men. To be their companions isour happiness; to be their wives is the completion of our lives; to bemothers of their children is our share of the glory that is theirs.
"Therefore, I pray you, men of the Blue Mountains, let me but be as anyother wife in our land, equal to them in domestic happiness, which is ourwoman's sphere; and if that priceless honour may be vouchsafed to me, andI be worthy and able to bear it, an exemplar of woman's rectitude." Witha low, modest, graceful bow, she sat down.
There was no doubt as to the reception of her renunciation of Queenlydignity. There was more honour to her in the quick, fierce shout whicharose, and the unanimous upward swing of the handjars, than in thewearing of any crown which could adorn the head of woman.
The spontaneous action of the Gospodar Rupert was another source of joyto all--a fitting corollary to what had gone before. He rose to hisfeet, and, taking his wife in his arms, kissed her before all. Then theysat down, with their chairs close, bashfully holding hands like a pair oflovers.
Then Rupert arose--he is Rupert now; no lesser name is on the lips of hispeople henceforth. With an intense earnestness which seemed to glow inhis face, he said simply:
"What can I say except that I am in all ways, now and for ever, obedientto your wishes?" Then, raising his handjar and holding it before him, hekissed the hilt, saying:
"Hereby I swear to be honest and just--to be, God helping me, such a Kingas you would wish--in so far as the strength is given me. Amen."
This ended the business of the Session, and the Council showed unmeasureddelight. Again and again the handjars flashed, as the cheers rose "threetimes three" in British fashion.