+-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber’s note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ FORTUNE’S FOOL BY RAFAEL SABATINI _Author of “Scaramouche,” “Captain Blood,” “The Snare,” “The Sea-Hawk,” etc._ [Illustration: Logo] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge COPYRIGHT, 1922 AND 1923, BY THE McCALL COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY RAFAEL SABATINI ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SECOND IMPRESSION, AUGUST, 1923 THIRD IMPRESSION, AUGUST, 1923 FOURTH IMPRESSION, OCTOBER, 1923 The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE: MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. CONTENTS I. THE HOSTESS OF THE PAUL’S HEAD 3 II. ALBEMARLE’S ANTECHAMBER 13 III. HIS GRACE OF ALBEMARLE 23 IV. CHERRY BLOSSOMS 36 V. THE MERCENARY 53 VI. MR. ETHEREDGE PRESCRIBES 65 VII. THE PRUDE 78 VIII. MR. ETHEREDGE ADVISES 85 IX. ALBEMARLE PROPOSES 90 X. BUCKINGHAM DISPOSES 101 XI. A WOMAN SCORNED 110 XII. BUCKINGHAM’S HEROICS 123 XIII. BUCKINGHAM’S GRATITUDE 138 XIV. DESPAIR 147 XV. THE SHADOW OF THE GALLOWS 156 XVI. THE SEDAN-CHAIR 175 XVII. THE ABDUCTION 187 XVIII. THE PARLEY 195 XIX. THE BATTLE 205 XX. THE CONQUEROR 212 XXI. UNDER THE RED CROSS 219 XXII. THE CRISIS 228 XXIII. THE WALLS OF PRIDE 237 XXIV. EVASION 247 XXV. HOME 255 XXVI. THE DEAD-CART 265 XXVII. THE PEST-HOUSE 277 XXVIII. JESTING FORTUNE 287 XXIX. THE MIRACLE 299 FORTUNE’S FOOL CHAPTER I THE HOSTESS OF THE PAUL’S HEAD