KOPHETUA THE THIRTEENTH BY JULIAN CORBETT AUTHOR OF "THE FALL OF ASGARD," "FOR GOD AND GOLD," ETC. London MACMILLAN & CO. AND NEW YORK 1889 _The right of translation is reserved_ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE ONEIRIA, 1 CHAPTER II. HIS MAJESTY, 8 CHAPTER III. THE MARRIAGE QUESTION, 17 CHAPTER IV. THE QUEEN-MOTHER, 26 CHAPTER V. MADEMOISELLE DE TRICOTRIN, 38 CHAPTER VI. THE KING'S COUNCILLORS, 52 CHAPTER VII. THE LIBERTIES OF ST. LAZARUS, 64 CHAPTER VIII. ESCAPE, BUT NOT LIBERTY, 81 CHAPTER IX. IN THE QUEEN'S GARDEN, 94 CHAPTER X. THE FALL OF TURBO, 108 CHAPTER XI. OPENING THE CAMPAIGN, 120 CHAPTER XII. A DECISIVE ACTION, 133 CHAPTER XIII. MISTRESS AND MAID, 148 CHAPTER XIV. "MORIBUNDUS AMOR," 159 CHAPTER XV. TWO VICTIMS, 171 CHAPTER XVI. A NIGHT MARCH, 185 CHAPTER XVII. "CHECK!", 196 CHAPTER XVIII. THE QUEEN'S MOVE, 216 CHAPTER XIX. CONSPIRATORS, 230 CHAPTER XX. PLAYERS, 245 CHAPTER XXI. HUNTER AND HUNTED, 262 CHAPTER XXII. HERMITS, 275 CHAPTER XXIII. AN OFFICIAL REPORT, 291 CHAPTER XXIV. THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE, 301 CHAPTER XXV. THE CROWN OF KISSES, 319 CHAPTER I. ONEIRIA. "I read that once in Affrica A princely wight did raine, Who had to name Kophetua, As poets they did faine." The outburst of political speculation which followed the Renaissance is well known to us by its remarkable literature. True it is that the greater part of it is long since dead and sleeps in peace, save where every now and then its ghosts are scared by a literary historian. But this obscurity only adds to its interest, and increases at once the charm, the safety, and the credit we may enjoy in discussing it. For the ordinary Englishman perhaps the only work of the class which is still really alive is the delightful political romance of Sir Thomas More. Yet to those who love the dustier shelves of libraries long ranks of its comrades will be not unfamiliar, standing guard as it were over the memory of an intellectual movement as vigorous and creative as any the world has seen.