uilding, in the sombre yet splendid architecture of ancient Egypt, which stood in the midst of what had once been Highg

he vast galleries of the central building, thousands of urns, containing the ashes of the dead, reposed in niches inscribed with the name and d

children of the deceased." The reason for this was, that for more than a century the name of Romanoff had been proscribed in all the nations of Europe. It was believed that the Vladimir

2

ssion as a sculptor, in which he had won both fame and fortune. Olga had lived with him since her father's death, and Serge,

its contents, to Olga and Serge. On the morning after his death, a notice, accompanied by an abstract of his w

d Serge. This second will reposed, with the crown of Russia, in the secret recess in the wall of the octagonal chamber; and the instructions endorsed upon it stated that

ck, unlocked the secret door and gave the will to Serge. As she did so, a sudden fancy seized her. She took the crown from its resting-place, and, standing in front of a long mirr

as in Europe and Asia. As the great Catherine was, so will I be-and more, for I will be Mistress of the West and the East. I will

d in imperial purple from head to foot, the very incarnation of loveliness and royal majesty. Serge looked up as she spoke, and gazed for a moment entrance

erve you as woman never was served before. You shall be my mistress-my goddess, and your words shall be my laws before all other laws. If you bid me do evil, it shall be to me as go

would not have been sweet; but to her they were doubly sweet, because they were a spontaneous tribute to th

n taught to look upon as higher than other men, in virtue of his descent from her own ancestry, and the bl

ess on his part. Of all the men she had ever seen, none compared with him in strength and manliness save one-and he, bitter beyond expression

her soul, and, acting on the impulse of the moment, she took the crown f

Serge Nicholaivitch. We have exchanged our vows, and in a few days I shall be your wife. We will wed a

the moment that she placed it on his brow. He rose to

o wear it worthily with you, and to restore to it t

ovely image, as though in a dream of future glory. He took her unresisting in his arms, and kissed her passionately again and

of earth, and I am still your slave, because

iss, well knowing that with every pressure of her intoxicating

sible dream of power and glory that had vanished, never to be brought back again. And yet, if such a one had been[30] able to look forward through little more than a single lustru

empire into which Olga's phantasy had plunged them both, would, if it had been made public, have given a by no means indefinite shape t

e object, and that was, to prepare the way for the accomplishment of a revolution which should culminate in the subversion of the state of society inaugurated by the Terrorists, and the re-establishment, at anyrate in the east of

uffice to say, that it contained a list of the names and addresses of four hundred men and women scattered throughout Europe and America, each of whom was the descendant of some prince or noble, some

l, could only do so by bringing back that which it had cost such an awful expenditure of blood and suffering to banish from the earth in the days of the Terror. The designs of Paul Roma

with paralysing effect. The few would have to array themselves against the many, and if they triumphed, it would have to be by the possession of

ing and working them. Most of these were from the hand of Vladimir Romanoff, Olga's father; but of infinitely more importance even than all these was a detailed description, on the last page bu

w vast and yet easily controlled a power this would be in the hands of those who were able to wield it, may be guessed from the fact that, in the

um, that Vladimir Romanoff trusted[32] for the motive force of his air-ships and submarine vessels, and which he had already employed with exper

o science, and minute instructions for their preparation. At the bottom of the page which contained these, there was a

er that it was something very different to the rest. She laid one hand carelessly over it, and with the other softly caressed Serge

ave a favour

are obeyed. Have I not sworn obedience?" he replied, laying his hand u

me alone for a little time-for half an hour-and then come back and finish reading this with me. You know my brain is not as st

o understand it thoroughly. So suppose you go to your smoking-room for a little, and lea

one,[33] and then I will go over it all again with yo

ell, he might have seen that she was hiding something from him under her little, white hand and s

w, I will give you a kiss for twenty minutes' solitude, and when you come b

w what was hanging in the balance in that fateful moment? He was but a hot-blooded youth of twenty, and he worshipped this lovely, girli

turned it threefold, and then his arm slipped from her shoulder to her waist, and he lifted her like a child from her chair, and carried her, half laughi

for a woman's kiss. Before, I saw that you were my equal and helpmate, now you and all other men-yes, not even excepting he w

ut what are they in comparison with the so

it would have been impossible for him to have even guessed that it had ever been attached to the parchment, or that it was now lying hidde