The inspector paused for a moment and wiped his hand over dry lips; in the telling of that tale his face had grown white. "Whom do you mean by 'they'?" inquired the King. The man hesitated. "Well, your Majesty, I'd rather not say." "I ought to know." "Oh, yes, sir, I can't deny that! But, there, I've got no proof--so it's not the same thing. But I do say this, your Majesty, that to be able to lay hands on those things in the first place, and now to keep them locked away, needs somebody higher up in the department than I'd like to name. If I may leave it at that?" "That will do," said the King. "Your Majesty sees I couldn't safely go to anybody else with that proof; either it would be somebody who couldn't get at it before it was destroyed, or it would be those who had the whole thing in their own hands." "I quite see that," said the King. "That's all I had to say, then, sir." "I am very much in your debt; I shall not forget what I owe you. There is one question I want to ask--you say that the charge must have been a very feeble one?" "Yes, sir, much less than an ordinary shell." "What do you deduce from that fact?" "Well, your Majesty, I should say that killing had never been intended." "That it was only done to frighten some one?" "That is about it, your Majesty." "Thank you; that is what I wanted to know. And if you will leave me your name, I think I can promise that you shall be at no disadvantage after I have gone into the matter." "I am much obliged, your Majesty." The inspector came forward, drew out a card, and respectfully presenting it, retired again. "Then, for the present, that is all," said the King. "It is now nearly two o'clock. You can, I believe, let yourself out?" And in the light of a gentle, half-quizzical smile from the royal countenance, the inspector withdrew. "What an amazing thing!" said the King to himself. "And oh! if it is true!" III He knew that it was true; for in a flash he had seen the meaning of it. And instead of angering him, it filled him with an almost intoxicating sense of power. For it meant that the Prime Minister, or the Government, could not do without him, he had been necessary to their plans. He could not distinctly see why, whether it were a fear of Max succeeding to the throne at such a juncture or of popular resentment at the sovereign being driven to so desperate a remedy for his griefs, or fear merely of the damage that might be done to the monarchical system while bureaucracy was still depending upon it as a cloak for constitutional encroachments--whether one or all of these fears impelled his minister, the King did not know; but he saw clearly enough that to force him into withdrawal of his abdication the Prime Minister had adopted a desperate and almost heroical remedy.