I know there
was a supreme satisfaction when I passed through the saluting crowds in
the Alta Avenue. It became almost elation when I rode upon the parade
ground to take the Review and the March By.
During this month, I had seen the Duke of Lotzen very frequently. I
had sat beside him at the Council table; I had dined with him formally
as the new Archduke, and informally as his cousin. And, on my part, I
had repaid his courtesies in kind. He had been thoughtful and
considerate to me to an exceptional degree, but, at the same time,
without undue effusiveness. In a word, he had treated me with every
possible attention our rank and consanguinity demanded.
Even Courtney could find nothing to criticise in Lotzen's behavior; nor
had his secret agents been able to detect anything _sub rosa_.
"However, all this proves nothing one way or the other," he remarked
one day, as we sat in my inner library. "If he intend the worst sort
of harm to you he would begin just as he has."
I nodded.
"I suppose His Majesty knows of Lotzen's courtesies to you?"
"And is immensely gratified. Bernheim tells me the Duke never was in
higher favor than at this moment," I answered.
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