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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

Chapter 6

Developing a Project Plan

Chapter Outline

1. Developing the Project Network

2. From Work Package to Network
3. Constructing a Project Network
A. Terminology
B. Basic Rules to Follow in Developing Project Networks
4. Activity-on-Node (AON) Fundamentals
5. Network Computation Process
A. Forward Pass—Earliest Times
B. Backward Pass—Latest Times
C. Determining Slack (or Float)
i. Total Slack
ii. Free Slack (Float)
D. Free Slack (Float)
6. Using the Forward and Backward Pass Information
7. Level of Detail for Activities
8. Practical Considerations
A. Network Logic Errors
B. Activity Numbering
C. Use of Computer to Develop Networks
D. Calendar Dates
E. Multiple Starts and Multiple Projects
9. Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality
A. Laddering
B. Use of Lags to Reduce Schedule Detail and Project Duration
i. Finish-to-Start Relationship
ii. Start-to-Start Relationship
iii. Finish-to-Finish Relationship
iv. Start-to-Finish Relationship
v. Combinations of Lag Relationships
C. An Example Using Lag Relationships—The Forward and Backward Pass
D. Hammock Activities

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

10. Summary
11. Key Terms
12. Review Questions
13. Exercises
14. Case 6.1: Advantage Energy Technology Data Center Migration
15. Case 6.2: Shoreline Stadium Case

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

Chapter Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

LO 6-1 Understand the linkage between WBS and the project network.

LO 6-2 Diagram a project network using AON methods.

LO 6-3 Calculate early, late, and slack activity times.

LO 6-4 Identify and understand the importance of managing the critical path.

LO 6-5 Distinguish free slack from total slack.

LO 6-6 Demonstrate understanding and application of lags in compressing

projects or constraining the start or finish of an activity.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

Review Questions
1. How does the WBS differ from the project network?

a. The WBS is hierarchical while the project network is sequential.

b. The network provides a project schedule by identifying sequential dependencies
and timing of project activities. The network sets all project work, resource needs,
and budgets into a sequential time frame; the WBS does not provide this
information.
c. The WBS is used to identify each project deliverable and the organization unit
responsible for its accomplishment within budget and within a time duration.
d. The WBS provides a framework for tracking costs to deliverables and
organization units responsible.

2. How are WBS and project networks linked?

The network uses the time estimates found in the work packages of the WBS to
develop the network. Remember, the time estimates, budgets, and resources required
for a work package in the WBS are set in time frames, but without dates. The dates
are computed after the network is developed.

3. Why bother creating a WBS? Why not go straight to a project network and
forget the WBS?

The WBS is designed to provide different information for decision making. For
example, this database provides information for the following types of decisions:

a. Link deliverables, organization units, and customer

b. Provide for control
c. Isolate problems to source
d. Track schedule and cost variance. Network does not.
e. Assign responsibility and budgets
f. Focus attention on deliverables
g. Provide information for different levels in the organization.

4. Why is slack important to the project manager?

Slack is important to the project manager because it represents the degree of

flexibility the project manager will have in rearranging work and resources. A project
network with several near critical paths and hence, little slack, gives the project
manager little flexibility in changing resources or rearranging work.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

5. What is the difference between free slack and total slack?

Free slack usually occurs at the end of an activity chain—before a merge activity. It is
the amount of time the activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of the
activity immediately following it. Since free slack can be delayed without delaying
following activities, it gives some resource flexibility to the project manager. Total
slack is the amount of time an activity can be delayed before it becomes critical. Use
of total slack prevents its use on a following activity.

6. Why are lags used in developing project networks?

Two major reasons:

a. To closer represent real situations found in projects.

b. To allow work to be accomplished in parallel when the finish-to-start relationship
is too restrictive.

7. What is a hammock activity, and when is it used?

A hammock activity is a special purpose activity that exists over a segment of the life
of the project. A hammock activity typically uses resources and is handled as an
overhead cost—e.g., inspection. Hammock activities are used to identify overhead
resources or costs tied directly to the project. The hammock duration is determined by
the beginning of the first of a string of activities and the ending of the last activity in
the string. Hammock activities are also used to aggregate sections of projects to avoid
project detail—e.g., covering a whole subnetwork within a project. This approach
gives top management an overview of the project by avoiding detail.

5 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

Exercises
1. Here is a partial work breakdown structure for a wedding. Use the method
described in the Snapshot from Practice 6.2: The Yellow Sticky Approach to
create a network for this project.

Note: Do not include summary tasks in the network (i.e., 1.3, Ceremony, is a
summary task; 1.2, Marriage license, is not a summary task). Do not consider
who would be doing the task in building the network. For example, do not
arrange “hiring a band” to occur after “florist” because the same person is
responsible for doing both tasks. Focus only on technical dependencies between
tasks.

Hint: Start with the last activity (wedding reception), and work your way back
to the start of the project. Build the logical sequence of tasks by asking the
following question: In order to have or do this, what must be accomplished
immediately before this? Once completed, check forward in time by asking this
question: Is this task(s) the only thing that is needed immediately before the start
of the next task?

(Work Breakdown Structure Not Shown)

6 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

2. Draw a project network from the following information. What activity(s) is a

burst activity? What activity(s) is a merge activity?

Activity B is a burst activity and activity E is a merge activity.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

3. Draw a project network from the following information. What activity(s) is a

burst activity? What activity(s) is a merge activity?

Activity C is a burst activity. Activity G is a merge activity.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

4. Draw a project network from the following information. What activity(s) is a

burst activity? What activity(s) is a merge activity?

Activity A is a burst activity. Activities D and H are merge activities.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

5. Draw a project network from the following information. What activity(s) is a

burst activity? What activity(s) is a merge activity?

Activity A is a burst activity. Activities F, G, and H are merge activities.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

6. From the following information, develop an AON project network. Complete the
forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical
path. How many days will the project take?

The project will take 14 days.

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 Project Management: The Managerial Process

7. The project information for the custom order project of the Air Control
Company is presented here. Draw a project network for this project. Compute
the early and late activity times and the slack times. Identify the critical path.

The early and late activity times and the slack times are shown on the diagram above.
The critical path is A-D-F-G-H. The project takes 45 days to complete.

12 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

8. You have signed a contract to build a garage for the Simpsons. You will receive a
$500 bonus for completing the project within 7 working days. The contract also
contains a penalty clause in which you will lose $100 for each day the project
takes longer than 7 working days.

Draw a project network given the information below. Complete the forward and
backward pass, compute the activity slack, and identify the critical path. Do you
expect to receive a bonus or a penalty on this project?

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram above.
The completion time is 18 days so there will be a three-day penalty.

13 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

9. You are creating a customer database for the Hillsboro Hops minor league
baseball team. Draw a project network given the information below. Complete
the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify the critical
path.

How long will this project take? How sensitive is the network schedule?
Calculate the free slack and total slack for all noncritical activities.

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The project is expected to take 10 days. The project is very sensitive with
three interrelated critical paths. None of the activities have slack.

14 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

10. K. Nelson project manager of Print Software, Inc., wants you to prepare a
project network; compute the early, late, and slack activity times; determine the
planned project duration; and identify the critical path. His assistant has
collected the following information for the Color Printer Drivers Software
Project:

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The completion time is 105 days. The critical path is A-D-G-I-J-K-L.

15 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

11. A large southeast city is requesting federal funding for a park-and-ride project.
One of the requirements in the request application is a network plan for the
design phase of the project. Sophie Kim, the chief engineer, wants you to develop
a project network plan to meet this requirement. She has gathered the activity
time estimates and their dependencies shown here. Show your project network
with the activity early, late, and slack times. Mark the critical path.

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The completion time is 150 days. The critical path is A-C-E-G-J.

16 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

12. You are creating a customer database for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs minor
league baseball team. Draw a project network given the information below.
Complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify
the critical path.

How long will this project take? How sensitive is the network schedule?
Calculate the free slack and total slack for all noncritical activities.

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The project is expected to take 18 days. The project is not very sensitive with
one dominant critical path, A-C-F-I-K-L. Activities B, E, and H and J share 8 days of
slack while activities D, G, and J share 7 days of slack.

17 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

13. You are completing a group term paper. Given the project network that follows,
complete the forward and backward pass, compute activity slack, and identify
the critical path. Use this information to create a Gantt chart for the project. Be
sure to show slack for noncritical activities.

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The Gantt chart is shown below.

18 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Identify topic
Research topic
Draft paper
Edit paper
Create graphics
Reference
Proof
Final draft

The completion time is 13 days. The critical path is A-B-C-D-G-H.

19 of 37
 Project Management: The Managerial Process

14. You are managing a product upgrade project for Bangkokagogo. Given the
project network that follows, complete the forward and backward pass, compute
activity slack, and identify the critical path. Use this information to create a
Gantt chart for the project. Be sure to show slack for noncritical activities.

Early start, late start, early finish, late finish, and slack are shown on the diagram
above. The critical path is A-B-D-E-G-J. The non-critical activities are C, F, H, and I.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Form project team
Interview users
Survey users
Identify new features
Acquire materials
Develop Mrkt campaign
Produce prototype
Design graphics
Conduct marketing
Perform sales calls

20 of 37
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
"Mr. President, Ministers and Deputies," she began, speaking with
self-possession and dignity, "it may be said that the princess ought
not to intervene in the affairs of the Diet, but should remain
quiescent, and simply register the decrees of the majority. But, sir,"
she added, with a graceful inclination of her head towards
Brunowski, "your princess is not an automaton, but a human being
with feelings that can be moved. I feel strongly on this bill, and I do
not hesitate to say so."
She paused for a moment, and then resumed.
"I shall always act with regard to the Constitution. If this bill should
pass I shall affix my signature."
Cheers arose from the Left.
"But I trust the House will not let it pass."
Counter-cheers arose from the Right.
"If my sentiments can in any way influence the decision of deputies,
I would appeal to them, irrespective of party, to reject this
measure."
With this she bowed to the Diet, and withdrew from the chamber,
amid enthusiastic cries of "Long live the Princess of Czernova!"
The chivalry of the Poles, if not of the Muscovites, was evoked. The
assassin's pistol-shot, the princess's personal appeal, had produced
more effect than all the oratory of the five previous weeks.
As soon as Brunowski had resumed the presidential chair, Zabern
again spoke.
"The princess has made it a personal question between herself and
Lipski. Well, gentlemen, you have seen the princess, and—you see
Lipski," he continued, pointing to that deputy, who looked far from
amiable at that moment. "Can any man doubt," he added, with fine
scorn, "can any man doubt for whom he shall vote? Let it not be
said that—"
Zabern paused. A sound louder than any they had yet heard
penetrated to the chamber. A mighty roar was rising from the
Zapolyska Square. Twenty thousand voices blending into one
proclaimed that the time had come for deciding the great
controversy. The iron tongue of the cathedral-clock was booming
forth the hour of midnight.
"The vote will now be taken," cried Brunowski, amid a scene of
indescribable excitement.
"I move that it be taken by secret ballot," exclaimed Zabern.
"I oppose it," said the Duke of Bora.
The President put the question to the assembly, and the proposal for
secret ballot was carried by acclamation.
Zabern smiled grimly as he observed the secret glances of rage
interchanged between Bora and Lipski. By this manœuvre on his
part they were prevented from learning whether those Poles who
had secretly taken the gold of Orloff would vote according to
promise.
In the Diet of Slavowitz, when voting by ballot, each deputy took
from his desk one of a set of discs. These discs were of two colors,
white for affirmation, black for negation.
Concealing the disc between the fingers and the palm—carrying it
openly was forbidden on pain of forfeiture of the vote—each deputy
walked past the presidential table, and placing his hand within the
mouth of a large bronze urn, dropped the disc.
As a precaution against the artifice of giving more than one vote, the
names of the deputies were marked on the roll as each person
passed by, and the number of counters checked by this
arrangement.
In prescribed order the deputies quitted their seats, and filed past
the table, and for a few moments nothing was heard but the clink of
the metallic discs as they fell within the urn. Brunowski took no part
in the division, but had the right of a casting-vote.
"One hundred and nineteen members have voted," said the chief
clerk, looking up from the register, after the last suffrage had been
given.
This was a record division, being the largest that had ever occurred
in the history of the Czernovese Diet. Every deputy, with the
exception of Cardinal Ravenna, was present and had voted.
The great question was how had they voted?
Amid a hush like that in the chamber of the dying when the fatal
moment has come, the chief clerk, at a sign from the President,
slowly inverted the urn, and poured out the discs upon the red table-
cloth.
In their excitement the deputies rose and stood upon seats and
desks, craning their necks forward, eager to catch the first glimpse
of the black and white counters, eager to learn which of the two was
the prevailing color.

To the waiting populace in the Zapolyska Square the time taken in

recording the votes and in counting the same seemed unnecessarily
long.
A great sensation had been created when the officials of the House
reported to those near the doors that the princess herself had
appeared in the Diet with an appeal for the rejection of the bill. The
story gathered in detail as it passed from mouth to mouth, and men
on the outskirts of the crowd told how the princess with tears in her
eyes had gone down on her knees before the assembly, and how
Zabern, sabre in hand, had stalked up and down the chamber
threatening to cut the throats of all who would not vote against the
bill.
And when the hour of midnight began to toll, and Dorislas was seen
to fling himself from his charger, and hurry up the steps of the Diet-
house, for the purpose of recording his vote within the chamber, the
interest grew to fever-heat.
Wild work had been going on in the square, but now the knowledge
that the great division was taking place had a somewhat quieting
effect upon the crowd. All eyes were turned towards the grand
entrance, brilliant with light that streamed far out into the darkness,
for from this entrance the result was to be proclaimed.
Ten minutes after midnight there was a movement at the head of
the stairs; the gendarmes parted, and the white-haired clerk of the
House was seen holding in his hand the paper inscribed with the
momentous result. Dorislas appeared at the same instant and
mounted his charger in readiness for the riot which he knew to be
imminent.
Standing at the head of the steps the clerk raised his hand, and at
that signal the crowd, which but a moment before had been surging
this way and that, became instantly immobile. The square was a sea
of upturned faces, each gleaming with painful curiosity. Even the
cuirassiers extended along the front wall of the Diet-house forgot for
a moment their discipline, and bent sideways in the saddle, eager to
hear the result. The stillness of death prevailed. Not a movement.
Not a word. Not a breath.
"People of Czernova," said the clerk, speaking in a voice that
penetrated to every portion of the square, "in a House of one
hundred and nineteen members, thirty-nine have voted for the
Secular Appropriation Bill, and eighty against it. The measure
therefore stands rejected by a majority of forty-one."
These figures seemed to show that the voting had been conducted
strictly on party lines. The Muscovite members of the Diet numbered
thirty-eight, or, with the addition of the Duke of Bora, thirty-nine.
The tale of the Poles was eighty-one; the vote of the absent
Ravenna being deducted, the majority of forty-one was thus
accounted for.
The publication of the figures was followed by a moment of
bewildering silence. The Poles could not believe in such a victory, nor
the Muscovites in such a defeat. Some among the crowd, supposing
that the clerk had made an error in his statement, called upon him
to read it again.
But now at the side of the clerk appeared the tall figure of Zabern,
waving his helmet and greeting his adherents with a triumphant
smile.
All doubt vanished. Exultant cries of "Slava! slava!" burst from Polish
throats. The Muscovites replied by yells of execration. The two
factions were intermingled; the triumph of the one evoked the fury
of the other, and in a moment more the Zapolyska Square was
transformed to pandemonium.
"Forward!" cried Dorislas, waving his sabre. "Clear the square."
And loud above the trampling and the din arose a carillon of bells
from the cathedral of St. Stanislas, pealing forth a jubilation over the
victory gained by the Latin Church.
Inside the House the excitement was equally great. Pole shook
hands with Pole, for it was felt to be a splendid party triumph. The
Muscovite members stared sullenly at each other, Lipski himself
looking the very incarnation of malignity. More than a score of Polish
deputies, after accepting splendid bribes, had betrayed him by
voting with Zabern, and he was precluded from making their
duplicity known by the fact that the procuration of a deputy's vote
by bribery was an offence punishable by perpetual exclusion from
the Diet.
Both parties streamed out into the corridors to discuss the event,
leaving Brunowski and a dozen members in the chamber to pass the
resolution: "That the military be withdrawn from the monasteries."
In a small apartment, adjacent to the hall of debate, sat Barbara,
surrounded by her radiant ministers. An ardent politician, she was in
her element on such nights as these.
"A two-thirds majority of the House!" she murmured with a glow on
her cheek. "Thirty-nine for the bill, and eighty against it. What a
triumph!"
"Thank heaven, our secret is safe!" said Radzivil. "Kossuth can have
his gold."
"Another defeat for Russia!" grinned Zabern. "How Orloff will regret
the roubles he has wasted!"
In passing along one of the corridors Zabern encountered the Duke
of Bora.
That ex-minister, long a traitor at heart, and a secret sympathizer
with the aims of the Opposition, had at last cast off the mask, but on
a very inopportune occasion as he now perceived. Hoping to profit
by the anticipated defeat of the ministry, and the consequent
confusion, if not fall, of the princess, he had crossed to the opposite
side of the House, and he had seated himself cheek by jowl with
Lipski and his colleagues, only to see them suffer a most crushing
defeat. His mortification, already great, was enhanced by Zabern's
caustic smile.
"Ah, dear duke, you don't seem quite so cheerful as you did last
week on the Long Terrace. Payment within one hour after the
division," he continued, exhibiting the duke's written pledge, "was
not that our agreement? May I trouble your grace, then, for the sum
of ten thousand roubles, since our majority has exceeded twenty?
Ten thousand roubles is rather a large amount, but you will
doubtless recoup yourself from Orloff's Bribery Fund."
If looks had power to kill, Zabern would certainly have fallen dead
beneath Bora's savage glance. Unable, however, to evade the
fulfilment of his word, the duke reluctantly wrote out a check for the
required amount.
"An unforeseen circumstance has enabled you to win this wager," he
said, curtly.
"Yes, it was a very fortunate—ah!—circumstance for us," drawled
Zabern, as he walked away with the check in his pocket, "but as to
its being unforeseen!—" He finished the sentence with a short laugh.
"Duke of Bora, you must be the biggest fool in Czernova not to
suspect the game I've played."
Averse to the noisy demonstrations, friendly or hostile, which her
presence in the crowded streets was certain to evoke, Barbara
lingered for some time in the Diet-house, conversing with the
deputies of both parties, and charming even the rugged hearts of
the Muscovites by her gracious and winsome manner.
When the streets were reported quiet she drove back to the Vistula
Palace, accompanied by Zabern and Paul, the latter of whom from a
side gallery had watched the course of the debate.
The trio retired to the White Saloon.
"That pistol-shot has wrought us so much good, marshal," observed
Barbara, "that I feel quite capable of forgiving the assassin."
"Then your Highness shall have an opportunity of doing so," replied
Zabern, "since he, or rather she, is in the next apartment."
He stamped heavily on the floor thrice. A door opened, and there
entered Katina Ludovska with her sister Juliska, not now garbed in
male attire, as when awaiting the princess's landau in the forest-
road, but dressed each in her own pretty Polish costume.
They advanced with a somewhat timid air and knelt, till requested by
the wondering princess to rise. They were not strangers to her, for
she had often witnessed their fencing feats in the salle d'armes.
"This lady," said Zabern, indicating Katina, "craves pardon for
shooting at the princess, without obtaining her Highness's
permission, but at the same time she can plead that she was acting
under the command of Marshal Zabern."
"Explain," said the princess, haughtily, and with a flash of her eyes
that made even the bold Katina quail.
"It was well known to the Diet," began Zabern, cool and unabashed,
"that your Highness was opposed to the Appropriation Bill. Six votes
only were wanted to secure its rejection.
"Now, if at the present crisis some desperado would only oblige us
by seeking to kill your Highness, the attempt would create such a
feeling of sympathy among the secessionist members of our party
that not only would the required six votes be captured, but many
more in addition.
"I therefore resolved that such outrage should take place. But the
deed must have every appearance of reality. Blank cartridges might
suggest a mock attempt, but real bullets, missing your Highness's
person by a hair's-breadth only, would disarm all suspicion.
"Accordingly, I made overtures to the finest pistol-shot in Czernova,
Katina Ludovska, who consented to the plan.
"Do not accuse me of recklessly hazarding your Highness's life, since
I was fully convinced that Katina's hand would not fail, for Juliska of
her own accord gave me striking proof of her sister's unerring
marksmanship. She bade Katina regard her as the princess, and
while Katina stood revolver in hand upon the steps of the inn-door,
Juliska rode fearlessly past on horseback six times in succession; and
on each occasion Katina sent one shot through the brim of her
sister's hat, while the second whizzed close to her temple.
"This experiment convinced me of Katina's ability to do the trick, and
success has justified my opinion. A bold liberty on my part, your
Highness, but pardonable, considering the object I had in view."
Barbara's first emotion of breathless amazement was followed by a
sense of anger, as she recalled the dreadful sensation that came
over her when the hot bullet whizzed past her face.
"Remember," pleaded Zabern, cognizant of Barbara's feelings,
"remember that your Highness gave me carte blanche to do
whatsoever I pleased, provided that I could but secure the rejection
of the Appropriation Bill."
This was true, but who could have guessed that Zabern would have
resorted to such a desperate remedy?
"And you could devise no other plan than this for defeating the bill?"
"None, though I racked my brain for a week."
Barbara's anger began to yield to a mournful feeling. It was her
belief that no state can flourish long on duplicity. If her chief minister
could maintain her in power only by resorting to trickery such as
this, then, indeed, the day of her fall could not be far distant.
"It is past," she murmured. "I am scathless, and the bill is rejected;
what more should I desire?" And then, addressing Katina and her
sister, she said, "You played a very hazardous game as well with
your own lives as with mine. Why, marshal, you ordered the guards
to fire upon the fugitives!"
"Nikita was in the plot, your Highness, and had taken the precaution
to serve out blank cartridges to your corps du garde; so the volley
was a harmless one. But I confess my heart was in my mouth when
I saw Captain Woodville taking aim with his pistol. Fortunately he
tripped up in the very act of firing."
"I little thought that I was taking aim at Mistress Katina," smiled
Paul, "and grateful am I that she did not return the shot. And so
Nikita was in the plot? Why, the rogue vowed that one of the two
was Russakoff!"
"He couldn't resist the temptation of poking a little fun at you,"
replied Zabern. "Had you looked round, you would have seen him
choking with suppressed laughter."
"And I suppose, marshal, that you led the way down the path where
the red cap lay—"
"Purposely to give Katina and Juliska more time to escape."
"And I presume, likewise, that it was your hand which annotated the
copy of the 'Kolokol' newspaper?"
"Precisely. Those marginal remarks were my own invention."
Paul could not refrain from laughter as he recalled the fine air of
indignation with which Zabern had pointed out to the Diet the
annotations that his own pencil had made.
"Marshal, you lie with admirable grace."
"I have lived five years in Russia, you see."
"But, marshal," remonstrated Barbara, gravely, "you have placed me
in a false position, by letting me pose before the Diet as the escaped
victim of an assassination plot."
"A splendid way of catching votes," returned Zabern, coolly. "And
votes were what we wanted."
"And you have endeavored to connect Lipski with the deed. Is that
well devised, marshal?"
"Perfectly," replied the unscrupulous Zabern. "He has in his paper
advocated the slaying of rulers; he is therefore a potential, if not an
actual, assassin. I have but given the people of Czernova a practical
illustration of his teaching. O your Highness, let me show that your
consideration for Lipski is somewhat misplaced. You are doubtless
aware that to his editorship of the 'Kolokol' he also adds the calling
of gunsmith and armorer, and a very convenient calling it is for one
who is ill-disposed to the state."
"Be plainer with me, marshal."
"I have long suspected Lipski of treasonable designs, and therefore,
observing a few days ago that a private house contiguous to his
establishment in the Boulevard de Cracovie was to be let, I
instructed one of my spies to rent and occupy the said house, the
cellar of which adjoins Lipski's. Last night my agent and I cautiously
removed a few bricks from the upper part of the intervening wall,
and turned the light of a lantern through the orifice thus made. Your
Highness, that vault, which is a lofty and spacious one, contains
more rifles than Lipski will ever be able to sell, even if he should live
to be a centenarian. They lie stacked up from floor to ceiling. I
probably do not overshoot the mark when I say that there cannot be
less than ten thousand. The law does not permit any citizen, even a
gunsmith, to possess one-twentieth of that number."
"This is a grave matter," said Barbara. "Those arms must be seized."
"Certainly, your Highness; for while it is right for us to store up arms
against the Czar, it's a monstrous thing that the Czar's hirelings
should be permitted to pile up arms against ourselves. Never let
others do to you as you would do to them."
"You have a cynical way of putting things, marshal."
"These arms are designed for the denizens of Russograd. As they
are much too poor to purchase their own rifles, there is to be a free
distribution—probably on the night of the 14th of September."
"The eve of my coronation," said Barbara, startled by this
announcement.
"The same. My spies report that there are whispers among the
Muscovites of an armed rising to take place on the coronation day.
In fact, they propose to hold a rival coronation in the Greek basilica.
You can guess, princess, who is to play the central figure in this
unauthorized ceremony."
"A ceremony that shall never take place," said Barbara, with a flash
of her eyes.
"True. We'll foil them. With your sanction, princess, I'll make no
movement at present in this matter. The longer we delay Lipski's
arrest the more the plot will develop, the wider will be the sweep of
our net when the cast is made, and the more fishes shall we
enclose. Meantime, rest assured that my spy will keep a careful eye
upon that secret store of arms."
"Be it so, marshal. We leave the matter to your wisdom."
"And your Highness pardons that little affair of the shooting?"
The princess with a smile extended her hand for Zabern to kiss.
"Without your constant vigilance, marshal, the princess were
nothing."
 CHAPTER XIV

NEARING A CRISIS
A few nights after the defeat of the Appropriation Bill, Paul Woodville
at a late hour strolled forth into the gardens of the Vistula Palace,
with no design of meeting Barbara, but drawn thither chiefly by the
extreme beauty of the moonlight.
He sat down in solitude by the margin of a tree-girt lake, watching in
an abstracted manner the silvery path of light on its surface, and
musing over the strangely romantic turn his life had taken.
A sudden rustling among the foliage put an end to his reverie, and
on turning he found Barbara by his side.
She was excited, if not angry. There was a defiant expression upon
her face, and a lovely color burned on her cheek. She was habited
as if for a journey, for her figure was concealed by a cloak with the
hood drawn around her head. Her appearance reminded Paul of
their first meeting in the Illyrian forest; and, as if responsive to his
thoughts, Barbara's first words recalled that time.
"Paul, do you remember those happy days in Dalmatia? Come and
let us renew them."
"I am not quite sure that I understand."
"Let us leave Czernova this night—this hour—now. Take me with
you."
For a moment Paul doubted whether he could have heard aright.
Then recovering from his surprise, he asked,—
"What has happened to make you take this wild resolution?"
"There is no other course left us if we are to be united. Listen!"
She proceeded to explain the cause of her agitation.
It appeared that at a cabinet council held earlier in the evening
Barbara had announced what had for some time been suspected,
namely, that the projected match between herself and the duke had
been dissolved by mutual consent. Thereupon the Greek Archpastor,
Mosco, whom Barbara suspected of acting as the mouthpiece of the
duke, rose and boldly, yet respectfully, asked the princess to define
her attitude towards her secretary, Captain Woodville; he invited her
to contradict the growing rumors as to the relationship existing
between herself and the Englishman.
Perceiving that other members of the cabinet were in sympathy with
Mosco's questioning, Barbara put aside her first impulse, which was
haughtily to ignore the subject, and gave answer that it was her firm
resolve to make Captain Woodville the Prince-consort of Czernova.
The council were united in maintaining that this could not be.
"Zabern among the number?" asked Paul.
"Zabern spoke not a word—sure sign that he is on your side. He
deems it prudent to sacrifice his private opinion to the will of the
rest; otherwise Radzivil would call upon him to resign, and Zabern
believes that he can do me more good in the cabinet than out of it.
They have insisted upon your immediate withdrawal from Czernova.
I pledged my word that you should depart this very night; but, Paul,"
she continued, with a laugh that had something of hysteria in it, "I
did not tell them that it was my intention to accompany you. I will
never give you up, Paul, never. You are dearer to me than crown or
life. Come, we will go away together, and leave Czernova to its own
devices."
Such was the invitation addressed to Paul by Barbara, whose arms
were encircling his neck as with a garland; her lovely face was close
to his; her dark eyes radiant with love were looking into his own.
Now at last she seemed to belong to him.
Paul, as previously related, had by the death of a relative become
the possessor of an ample fortune. How delightful, then, to while
away the hours on the sunny shores of the Riviera with Barbara for
his bride! What admiration her beauty would elicit from all who saw
her! What a halo of romance would surround her personality! The
princess who resigned a throne for love, who preferred an untitled
Englishman to an imperially connected archduke! He would be the
most envied man in Europe. It was a splendid temptation, but he
rose superior to it.
"If you have pledged your word for my withdrawal, I must go—and
alone," he added.
"You shall not go to please them," she cried passionately.
"Then I will go to please myself."
"Without me? Do you mean that—that we must part forever?"
The anguish of her voice went to Paul's heart. The stately princess
that had confronted the Diet was gone, and in her place was a
clinging, trembling maiden with eyes full of tears.
"Sweetest Barbara, doubt whatever else you will, but do not doubt
my love. It behoves us to part at least for a time. I go, but you must
remain. Remember, that, as a princess, you are not your own but
your people's. If you desert Czernova you give to the duke the crown
for which he is basely plotting. Do not let that traitor succeed. Do
not hand over your loyal Poles to the tyranny of Bora. Abdication on
your part will mean the final triumph of Russia."
"And that triumph is not far distant," replied Barbara bitterly. "We
have received intelligence to-day from our ambassadors at Berlin
and Vienna that Prussia and Austria have jointly agreed to withdraw
from the responsibility of upholding the integrity of Czernova, leaving
the onus of this political duty to Russia. We know what this means.
In plain language Kaiser and King will permit the Czar to exercise a
free hand in the principality. The long-threatened annexation is at
hand."
"Then it is time for me to be going."
"In my hour of peril?"
"I go to save you from this peril, to deliver you from the ever-
threatening shadow of the Czar. I have a scheme in mind,—a
scheme so daring that it seems madness to attempt it; and yet
better to dare and fail than not to dare at all. My plan, if it succeeds,
will make Czernova so strong that it will no longer fear the arms of
Russia. And then," added Paul hopefully, "and then it may be that in
return for such service your ministry will regard me with more
favorable eyes."
Love is proverbially blind, and therefore it will not seem matter for
wonder that the princess in her passionate attachment to Paul
should place more reliance upon his promise than upon the united
wisdom of her cabinet. But what his plan was she could not learn; to
all her questions he smiled pleasantly and mysteriously; the sooner
he set off the sooner would come its realization.
But each time he turned to depart Barbara pleaded so sweetly for
delay that he was forced to stay a few minutes longer; and they
continued to sit in the moonlight, Paul radiant with the hope of
coming success, Barbara puzzled, yet confident in his ability to fulfil
his word. They were a long time in parting, and often after saying
what they intended as their final farewell they turned again to repeat
it.
Paul at length tore himself away, and had not proceeded very far
when he was met by Marshal Zabern.
"You are leaving Czernova?"
"Since the cabinet decrees it."
"But you must return."
"When?"
"On the eve of the princess's coronation."
"Why on that day?"
Zabern bent his head and whispered. The communication was such
as to cause Paul's eyes to sparkle and his hand to seek the hilt of his
sabre.
"Is that the plan of the duke, then?"
"Such is my belief. And you alone, Captain Woodville, can defeat it.
You will be there?"
"Can you doubt it? If I be living."
"Good! You will have the laugh of these fools," returned Zabern,
referring to his colleagues in the ministry. "They will not deny you
the hand of the princess then."
And Paul and Zabern parted on an understanding eminently
satisfactory to both.
On the following day the ministry learned with relief that Captain
Woodville had quitted Czernova, though none knew, not even
Barbara, whither he had betaken himself.
The coronation ceremony was now but two months distant, and
Zabern ventured to remind the princess that some of its most
important details still awaited settlement.
"The great question is who shall have the high honor of crowning
your Highness?"
"Abbot Faustus, for he is a good man," replied Barbara; and, noting
Zabern's look of surprise, she added, "He, and none other. The
cabinet have had their way in the matter of Captain Woodville; I will
have my way in this. Let the council meet again to-day. When this
point comes to be discussed, do you, marshal, propose Abbot
Faustus for the office, and I will assent."
Though wondering much at her choice, Zabern refrained from
comment.
That same evening another cabinet council was held in the Vistula
Palace, Barbara again presiding.
Among the members present was the Archbishop Mosco, or, as he
was styled in Slavowitz, the Archpastor, who, as previously stated,
had a seat in the cabinet, not by the appointment of the princess,
but by virtue of his office as head of the Greek Church in Czernova.
The crowning of the sovereign had hitherto been one of the
privileges attaching to his see. Barbara's Latin faith, however, had
necessarily deprived him of his prerogative, which would thus seem
to devolve by natural right upon the highest ecclesiastic in the
Catholic Church of Czernova, or in other words, upon the Cardinal
Archbishop Ravenna.
Therefore, when Zabern rose to propose that Abbot Faustus, of the
Convent of the Transfiguration, should have the high honor of
crowning the princess, there were murmurs of dissent from the
council, the majority not deeming the abbot of sufficient dignity for
the office.
"The cardinal would regard such appointment as an affront to
himself," remarked Radzivil.
"And might seek, in his disappointment, to give us trouble,"
commented Dorislas. "Being the ecclesiastical superior of Faustus, he
might appear in the cathedral and interdict the abbot from crowning
the princess, which would be a pretty scandal."
"Ah, well," replied Zabern, carelessly, "we have prisons for disorderly
prelates, as well as for law-breaking dukes."
"What says her Highness in this matter?" said Radzivil turning to the
princess.
"The marshal's nomination meets with my approval," returned
Barbara. "My lords, I will not now enter into my reasons. Let it
suffice to say that Cardinal Ravenna has made it impossible for me
to receive the crown from his hands. Sooner would I resign than do
so."
Great wonderment appeared on the faces of the ministers, yet none
ventured to ask in what way the cardinal had offended. Opposition
to the abbot was immediately withdrawn, for the cabinet, gratified
by Barbara's supposed dismissal of Paul, were in a complaisant
mood, though they plainly saw trouble looming ahead in thus
excluding Ravenna from participating in the coronation.
At this point of the debate Polonaski intervened with a suggestion.
He was the Justiciary, and by virtue of his office the highest legal
authority in Czernova.
"Since your Highness reigns over Greeks as well as Catholics, would
it not be politic to conciliate the former by permitting a Greek prelate
to have some share, however small, in your coronation?"
"That is good counsel," replied Barbara. "I trust, my lord," she
added, addressing Mosco with a gracious smile, "that you have not
viewed with bitterness this setting aside of the ancient privilege
attaching to your see? But, indeed, you are welcome to take
whatever part you please in my coronation, short of the
administration of the Sacrament and of the imposition of the
diadem."
Mosco, apparently gratified by this concession, spent a few moments
in studying the coronation ritual, a copy of which had been supplied
to each member of the cabinet.
"I ask for nothing more," he finally observed, "than for leave to read
the Gospel at the beginning of the ceremony."
"It is granted," replied Barbara, wondering why the archpastor
should select this, a somewhat humble office, compared with others
which were open to him.
Mosco's lips curved into a smile, which, though lasting but a
moment, did not escape the quick eye of Zabern, who immediately
became full of suspicion.
"As I live," he muttered to himself, "our archpastor is a traitor! Have
I got rid of Bora only to find that he has left a successor in the
cabinet? That smile means mischief. But what mischief can come
from the reading of the Gospel?"
An enigma which was not solved till the actual day of the coronation,
and those who witnessed the solution were not likely ever to forget
it.
That picturesque personage, accustomed to figure at a coronation,
namely, the champion, now became a subject of discussion, Mosco
himself having introduced the question.
"It is the duty of such champion," he explained in answer to
Barbara's interrogation, "to stand before the throne, and, casting
down a glove, to defy to mortal combat any one who shall openly
challenge the right of the sovereign to rule."
"But why," said the princess, with a pitying smile, "why should we
retain a feudal usage out of place in this nineteenth century?"
"It has always formed a part of the coronation ceremonial,"
protested Mosco. "Your late father, Prince Thaddeus, would not have
it omitted when he was crowned."
"And what would happen," asked Radzivil, "if some one malevolently
disposed towards the princess should step forward and pick up the
glove?"
"We had better consult the Justiciary," smiled Barbara. "He is our
authority on all matters of law."
"Your Highness," returned Polonaski, "the ancient statute touching
the championing of the sovereign's rights has never been repealed,
and therefore still stands good in point of law. Should any one
accept the champion's challenge by taking up the gage thrown
down, the combat would have to take place."
"With what result?" queried Radzivil. "Will you say that if her
champion should fall the princess must resign the throne?"
"According to the law of Czernova," replied the Justiciary.
Zabern leaned back in his seat and caustically whispered in the
premier's ear,—
"Count, methinks you were a little premature last night in banishing
an excellent swordsman from Czernova."
"I venture to differ from the Justiciary," remarked the princess. "An
earlier law is always repealed by a later. Therefore the feudal statute
which has been cited is abrogated by the recent Anti-duelling Act.
We will therefore omit this pretended championing of our rights as
an obsolete, barbarous, and unmeaning ceremony."
The Justiciary did not look as if convinced by Barbara's reasoning.
He refrained from further comment, however, and the motion to
omit the champion from the ceremonial was unanimously accepted.
Various other matters relative to the solemnity were settled, after
which the council broke up, leaving Zabern still troubled by Mosco's
smile. A permanent member of the cabinet, the Greek archpastor,
equally with the Roman archbishop, could not be removed at will by
the princess or the premier, unless guilty of treason, and of this
Zabern as yet lacked proof.
"He is playing Bora's game," muttered the marshal. "He is a party to
Lipski's plot. I warrant he knows all about the store of arms
concealed in that traitor's cellar. Mosco, you shall sit no more as the
betrayer of our meetings, for none shall be held. For some time to
come Czernova shall be governed by a council of three—the
princess, Radzivil, and myself."
But the evil which the Greek archpastor might do was as nothing
compared with what the Roman archbishop could effect, and in the
course of a few days Barbara found herself facing a peril of which
even her confidant Zabern little dreamed.
A week after Paul's departure Cardinal Ravenna returned to
Slavowitz, coming from Rome in no good humor. The Sacred College,
at the invitation of the Pope, had been spending many days in the
discussion of some abstruse doctrine of theology, much to the
irritation of Ravenna, whose self-interest required his presence in
Czernova.
In the first hour of his return he was made aware that the cabinet,
ignoring his superior claims, had deputed Abbot Faustus to crown
the princess, and that all men were talking of the event; for
inasmuch as it was the current belief that Ravenna was the very
person who had converted the princess to the Catholic faith, the
Czernovese were naturally not a little mystified by this exclusion of
the archbishop from the coronation ceremony.
Ravenna knew full well that this appointment could not have been
made without the sanction of Barbara herself, and accordingly on
the following morning he repaired to the Vistula Palace, his
mortification becoming still further enhanced by the mocking smile
of his Greek rival, whom he chanced to pass on the way. Barbara
received the cardinal with a chilling mien.
"Is it true, princess," he began with a grave air, "that in the matter
of the coronation you have given to the Abbot Faustus, my inferior,
the honor which belongs of right to the archbishop?"
"Quite true," responded Barbara, coldly.
"Do you intend, then, with set purpose, to put an affront upon me in
the sight of all Czernova?"
"None but pure hands shall set the diadem upon my head. Shall I
accept the Sacrament from one who has insulted me with words of
unhallowed love, repeat prayers uttered by your lips? My lord
cardinal," she added in scorn, "have you no conscience?"
Probably not. He was indifferent to the moral precepts of religion, if
not at heart wholly atheistic, having adopted the ecclesiastic life
merely as a stepping-stone to power.
"Is it likewise true that Zabern purposes at no distant date to
introduce into the Diet a bill for the expulsion of Jesuits from
Czernova?"
"Your eminence has been correctly informed. We cannot tolerate in
the principality those whose aim it is to create an imperium in
imperio. Besides," added the princess, caustically, "a Jesuit Expulsion
Bill will put my Muscovite subjects in a good humor, while not greatly
offending the Catholics."
Though maintaining a calm exterior, the cardinal nevertheless
listened with secret dismay, for her words were the very death-knell
of his ambition. By using the princess as his instrument he had
hoped to play the rôle of a Richelieu in Czernova, and to be the
supreme director of affairs, secular as well as ecclesiastical. By
reason of his supposed conversion of a Greek princess he had
obtained a high place in the Pope's favor. He had openly boasted at
the Vatican that the Greek heresy would soon vanish from Czernova.
But now? The attitude of Barbara and her cabinet showed that he
had been building castles in the air.
Was this to be the end of his life's work? Must he write "failure"
across the scheme that had occupied his mind for twenty years? It
would seem so.
"Is it to be war between us? Good! Thus, then, do I take up the
gage flung down by you. On your coronation day, in the sight of all
assembled in the cathedral, I shall rise to affirm, ay, and to prove
too, that you are not Natalie Lilieska. I shall denounce you as an
impostor, as a knowing usurper of the rights of Bora."
"And be arrested as an accomplice of the impostor; since, if I fall,
you fall with me."
"Not so, princess; for I shall previously have made my terms with
Bora. You may count, now, upon having the Pope as your enemy,
since you are bent upon persecuting the Society of Jesus. By falsely
claiming to be princess you have imposed upon the Holy Father. You
admit a heretical prelate to participate in the ceremony of your
coronation. You pretend to be a Catholic, yet your ministers have
placarded Slavowitz to the effect that the princess will swear at the
altar to preserve inviolate the ancient privileges as well of the Greek
as of the Latin Church. Such Laodicean policy will not suit Pio Nono.
A word in his ear from me will bring against you a bull of
excommunication. And, remember, that the subjects of an
excommunicated ruler are absolved from their allegiance."
Barbara laughed scornfully.
"We are not living in the time of the Crusades. Excommunication is
an obsolete weapon."
"Not so obsolete as you deem, princess. The Poles are loyal, or shall
we say superstitious, Catholics. Many of them will obey the Pope
rather than yourself. There will be a cleavage in the ranks of your
Polish adherents fatal to your interests. Barbara Lilieska, with the
Pope and the Catholic clergy of Czernova alienated from you; with
dissension among your own adherents; with the duke and his
Muscovite faction opposed to you; with the jealous Czar, ready, nay,
eager, to march his armies against the usurping princess who had so
often thwarted his policy—it will pass the wit of Zabern himself to
keep you upon the throne. Dream not of your coronation. You may
ride in state to the cathedral, but only to witness the crowning of
Bora. From that ceremony you will return not to this Vistula Palace,
but to that Citadel in which you once imprisoned the duke. He hates
you bitterly since your rejection of him for Captain Woodville. Now
he will be able to wreak his vengeance upon you. You will have to
drink deep of the cup of humiliation. Are you prepared for this?"
Barbara sat, pondering over the difficulties of her position. Then
amid her troubled thoughts came the memory of Paul and of his
mysterious plan, and she took courage.
The cardinal stood silently drinking in the beauty of her face and
figure, loving and hating her in the same moment, hoping against
hope that she would change her attitude towards him.
So long did Barbara remain mute that the cardinal began to think
that her opposition was weakening, and under this delusion he
ventured to renew his proposals of love.
"No more such language, my lord," said the princess, her eyes
flashing with indignation, "or I call the guard."
"And thereby precipitate your immediate ruin. The news of my
imprisonment would cause my nephew Redwitz of Zamoska to put in
evidence the three sealed letters. At present the secrets contained
within them are unknown even to him; but in a day more all the
world would be talking of the impostor-princess of Czernova. There
are still seven weeks left to you; why abbreviate your reign?"
Ravenna had spoken without his accustomed caution in revealing the
names Redwitz and Zamoska, which last was a small town in Russia,
distant a few miles from the Czernovese border. Though trembling
with anger at the cardinal's insolence, which a hard necessity
compelled her to tolerate, Barbara did not let the phrase "Redwitz of
Zamoska" escape her. The words seemed to afford a ray of hope. If
these letters could be seized, and the cardinal arrested on one and
the same day, why—then—then—
"Barbara Tressilian," said the cardinal quietly, "your aversion to illicit
love would seem to combat the theory of heredity."
At this singular utterance the princess gave a palpable start.
"The daughter is more scrupulous than the mother."
These words and the cold sneer accompanying them occasioned in
Barbara a fear far greater than that caused by the threat of
deposition.
"What devil's lie are you inventing now?" she murmured.
"Your English mother, Hilda Tressilian, was content to be wooed and
won without asking the church to consecrate her love."
If it be possible for the human heart to suspend its pulsation, then
Barbara's heart did at that moment.
When at last she spoke it was in a voice breathless with indignation.
"Can there be a more base deed than to slander a dead mother in
the presence of her daughter?"
"No slander, but the solemn truth do I speak. Your father, Prince
Thaddeus, withheld this knowledge from you, from a desire to spare
your feelings. When after the Dalmatian earthquake of two years
ago, you were wavering between the crown of a princess and the
veil of a nun, the knowledge that you were of illegitimate birth might
have deterred you from accepting the crown; therefore Prince
Thaddeus kept that matter a secret. He invented the story that the
church, the scene of his marriage, had been burnt, and the record of
the union destroyed; and the more effectually to deceive you he
made choice in his fiction of a certain church which had actually
been consumed by fire. But the preservation of the edifice would
have availed you nothing, for its marriage-book contained no such
names as Thaddeus Lilieski and Hilda Tressilian."
"It is a question betwixt my father's word and yours. I prefer my
father's."
"Naturally, inasmuch as it suits your interests. When on your
crowning-day, and before a vast assembly, I rise to deny that you
are Natalie Lilieski, will you dare affirm it, knowing, as you do, that
you lack a certain birth-mark of that princess? If you aver that you
are in reality Barbara Lilieska, the elder daughter of Thaddeus, what
answer will you give to those who challenge you to produce the
proofs of Thaddeus's early marriage? Barbara Tressilian, you are
illegitimate, and as such debarred from reigning. Your beauty has
made you many enemies among the proud and envious ladies of
Czernova. Those over whom you have queened it will be able to
point the finger of scorn at the discrowned princess, branded with
the stain of illicit birth."
He marked with secret pleasure the shiver of wounded pride on the
part of Barbara, and clenched his remarks with the question,—
"Knowing what I can effect, do you still maintain your defiance of
me?"
"I do," responded Barbara, quietly. "Believing myself to be the lawful
princess of Czernova, I shall hold to my throne. Girt around with
earthly perils, I tranquillize my mind by looking above, confiding in
the justice of heaven."
That any one should think of trusting to such a shadowy weapon as
the justice of heaven drew a sneer from the atheistic cardinal.
"The history of Poland should have taught you that God is always on
the side of the strong." And then, conscious of the futility of further
argument, he made a mock bow, and with the words, "Farewell,
Princess Lackland," he withdrew from the saloon.
Barbara retired to her own private apartments, and was seen no
more that day, save by her personal attendants.
Her belief in her legitimacy had rested upon her father's word; but
how if he had deceived her? The thought that she might be of illicit
birth rankled in her mind, poisoning all her happiness. She clenched
her hands in agony, and unable to sit still, paced restlessly to and
fro.
The spirit of justice was deep-planted within Barbara's breast; a
throne unlawfully held had no attractions for her; if she could be
certain that the cardinal's statement were true, then, bitter though
the duty might be, she must resign the crown of Czernova to her
enemy Bora. But she was not certain, and therein lay the torture.
She would have no peace of mind till the question should be settled,
and unfortunately the circumstances of the case seemed to preclude
the possibility of solving the doubt.
When Zabern next day sought the presence of the princess, he was
struck by her pallid complexion and melancholy air.
"The cabinet," he muttered to himself, mistaking the cause of her
sadness, "will have to recall Woodville, or our princess's health will
give way. Your Highness," he said aloud, "Dorislas has just proposed
a conundrum."
"To what effect?" asked Barbara with a smile.
"'Whether does Cardinal Ravenna live at Slavowitz or at Rome?' I
confess I am unable to answer it. It is but forty-eight hours since the
cardinal's return, and yet we now hear that he has set off again for
Rome, and will not come back till your coronation eve."
"When he will bring with him," observed Barbara, quietly, "a papal
bull excommunicating the Princess of Czernova."
"Ha! he'll be well advised not to read it," said Zabern, touching the
hilt of his sabre significantly. "I plainly foresaw that our preference
for Faustus would make an enemy of Ravenna. And so he hath gone
to Rome to solicit a bull of excommunication? And he'll obtain it. Our
intended attack on the Jesuits will not please Pio Nono; once their
foe, he hath of late become their friend and patron.
Excommunication! Thus does the Church reward us for preserving
her property, since in fighting for our own Convent of the
Transfiguration, we were fighting likewise for all the other
monasteries of Czernova; for which service it now appears we are to
receive papal curses. Humph! 'Catholicism without the Pope' will
soon have to be our cry."
"Marshal," said Barbara, resolving to make Zabern a confidant of her
secret history, "did you not present me with a handsome bow and
quiver about six months ago?"
Zabern replied in the affirmative, wondering why the princess should
have introduced a matter seemingly irrelevant.
"Have you not felt hurt that I have never once made use of your
gifts?"
"The princess has been occupied with more important matters."
"Shall I give you my reason?"
"If your Highness wills."
"The reason is very simple. I have never handled bow and arrow,
and it might create suspicion if I should now begin to learn."
"Now your Highness is jesting," said Zabern, puzzled to account for
this humor on the part of the princess, because Barbara was not in
the habit of jesting; and, moreover, if her remark were intended for
a jest, it was somewhat difficult to see the point. "You shoot like
Diana herself, or rather, I should say you did, for I must confess that
since your Dalmatian tour you seem to have taken a dislike to
archery."
"Marshal, I have never in my life taken aim at a target."
Zabern was completely dumfounded by the seriousness with which
Barbara spoke. On recovering from his surprise, he said, smiling the
while, for he did not believe in what he was saying,—
"Then if I am to accept your Highness's statement as true, it must
follow as a logical conclusion that the young princess who handled
the bow so admirably three years ago is not the same as she who
now addresses me."
"Now you have hit upon my secret, marshal. I am not Natalie
Lilieska."
"And I am not Ladislas Zabern," laughed the other. He could not tell
why the princess spoke thus; he certainly could not believe her.
"Now, Zabern, be serious, for I am serious. Can you not recall when
I first came here from Dalmatia, many supposed lapses of memory
on my part? Was it not a common saying at that time, 'The princess
has grown very forgetful?' Was I ever seen without either my father
or Ravenna by my side? The truth is they were secretly instructing
me as to the persons whom I met, giving me their names, history,
and the like. And yet in spite of many blunders on my part, no one
seemed to have any suspicion as to the truth, not even the Duke of
Bora. Listen," continued Barbara to the utterly bewildered marshal,
"listen while I give you a secret chapter of my biography."
Zabern gave due heed; and though the story was one of the most
marvellous and most romantic that had ever come under his notice,
either in history or fiction, he was compelled to believe in its truth,
for what motive could the princess have in fabricating such story?
But when he was made aware of the sacrifice which the cardinal had
demanded of Barbara as the price of his silence, Zabern became first
cold with horror, then hot with rage. A saint as regarded his own
dealings with women, he viewed with peculiar aversion a priest
addicted to illicit amours.
"By heaven, your Highness, if I had but known this three hours
earlier I would have cut the villain's throat."
"And thereby, in the cardinal's words, have precipitated my
immediate ruin. We must act warily. Listen."
And here Barbara proceeded to enlighten the marshal as to Redwitz
of Zamoska, the guardian of the three sealed letters; and how on
receiving intelligence of his uncle's imprisonment or death, the
nephew was to despatch these missives,—one to the Russian
Foreign Minister, a second to the Duke of Bora, and a third to the
office of the "Kolokol" newspaper.
"A subtle knave!" smiled Zabern.
Himself born with a genius for plotting, the marshal took a keen zest
in outwitting the plans of others, and in his view the cardinal's
contrivance for safeguarding himself presented some interesting
features.
"I fail to see why your Highness should fear the cardinal. You are so
like Princess Natalie in face and figure that you can laugh at his
threat to expose you on the coronation day. We will ascribe his
statement to the malice of a disappointed ecclesiastic."
"Not so," replied Barbara, with a shake of her graceful head. "My
sister Natalie had a mole upon her right shoulder, as the physicians
who attended her birth, and the nurses and ladies who waited upon
her, can prove. I have no such mark. Now, Zabern, never lacking in
subtle counsel, you see my peril. Aid me. You defeated Lipski; now
defeat the cardinal for me."
"A very easy matter. Why did not your Highness confide in me
before?"
"How—easy? In what way do you propose to act?"
"In the first place, are you certain that no one knows your secret
besides ourselves, Ravenna, and Captain Woodville? This Redwitz,
for example?"
"The cardinal asserted that his nephew was ignorant of the contents
of the three packets."
"Good! For my own part I do not think it probable that the cardinal
would share so valuable a secret with others; his own self-interest
would forbid it. Well, now," mused Zabern, "if we lay violent hands
upon Ravenna the nephew over the border will send off the letters."
"That has been my fear."
"On the other hand, if I despatch an agent to the house of Redwitz
to obtain possession of the letters, and it would be very easy to
effect this—"
"Then Redwitz, discovering his loss, would notify the fact to the
cardinal, who would thus become apprised of our design."
"True, princess; therefore our plan is obvious. Either the seizure of
the papers and the seizure of the cardinal must take place
coincidently, or—But leave it to me, your Highness," added Zabern,
breaking off somewhat abruptly. "Let the cardinal enjoy his brief
span of life at Rome. As soon as he returns he shall be secretly
seized in his own palace, instantly gagged to prevent him from
revealing anything even to his captors, and conveyed in a covered
carriage to the oubliettes of the Citadel. He shall never see daylight
again."
Much as the cardinal might deserve such fate, Barbara nevertheless
could not repress a shudder.
"Marshal," she said, with a grave look, "it is a dangerous thing to
seize, imprison, and execute a cardinal, a prince of the Church,
without any pretence at a trial. The Pope—all Europe—will have
something to say on the matter."
"Trial? We dare not try him, for then would he make known to the
judges and others the very matter we wish to keep secret. Ours is a
dangerous game, true; but it would be far more dangerous to let the
villain live. Still, there is no need for his arrest; there are other and
safer ways. The cardinal may disappear mysteriously, and then
Marshal Zabern, the Minister of Justice, will offer a large reward, ay,
and will give it, too, to any one who can tell what has become of the
missing archbishop. Or," added Zabern, grimly, "he may be found to
have committed suicide in his own palace."
Zabern spoke without the least scruple. He was not naturally cruel
nor treacherous, but he reflected that the crown of Czernova was at
stake, and with it, so he believed, the future liberation of Poland;
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