"Impossible!" Maxgregor cried. "Madame, the king is dead. He was killed in that accident. Mr. Charles Maxwell, though sorely hurt himself, managed to get the body conveyed to a place of safety so that nobody should know, and the body has been brought to England. Mr. Lechmere managed it in the most wonderful way. The body is at present in my rooms safely under lock and key. I have seen it, Mr. Lechmere has of course seen it, and so has Dr. Varney, who is prepared to certify that the cause of death was shock to the system. I came here on purpose to bring you the ill tidings. I pray you be buoyed up with no hopes on such a fallacy as this. If you like to come and see for yourself----"
The queen passed her hand across her brows in a bewildered sort of way. At the same time she took up a grey cablegram from the table by her side.
"Listen to what Tomani says," she cried. "Listen--'King here safe but knocked about from the result of his accident. Met him myself. Is at present in consultation with ministers. Will let your majesty know result of deliberations as soon as settled. Tomani.' Paul, what does it mean?"
But for once in his life General Maxgregor was incapable of reply.
Maxgregor made no reply for a moment. It flashed across his mind that some person or persons were playing a cruel hoax on the queen.
But a moment's reflection served to show that such a thing was impossible. In the first place the telegram was in the cypher used by the queen in communicating with Tomani, the only really faithful friend she possessed in the councils of the government party of Asturia. And Tomani's honour was beyond question.
The queen was first to speak. She crossed over and laid a shaking hand on Maxgregor's arm.
"You must be mistaken," she said. "Unless Tomani--but not for a moment do I doubt _him_. I trust him as implicitly as I trust yourself. And yet you say--you say----"
"That the king is dead, madame. The king was killed in the disaster that happened to his special train between here and Paris. Mind you, nobody knows of this with the exception of the faithful few into whose hands you would place your life safely. As a matter of fact the disaster was no accident at all, it was deliberately brought about by Countess Saens and Prince Mazaroff for their own ends. The miscreants disappeared and I am afraid that we shall not have the satisfaction of laying them by the heels. The driver and stoker of the train were killed so that it is impossible to obtain their testimony. Captain Alexis and Mr. Charles Maxwell escaped by a miracle, though they are both badly knocked about. It was Mr. Maxwell who saved the situation and contrived to get the body of the king smuggled away."