“I suppose, now,” said he, with a wise shake of the head, “pride--pride is at the root of it all, some way or other; and if it is, I may give up the investigation at onst, for divil a one o' me knows what pride is,--barrin' it's the delight one feels in consthruin' a hard bit in a Greek chorus, or hittin' the manin' of a doubtful passage in ould Æschylus. But what's the good o' me puzzlin' myself? If I was to speculate for fifty years, I 'd never be able to think like a lord, after all!” And with this conclusion he began to prepare for his journey. CHAPTER XLVIII. HOW A SOVEREIGN TREATS WITH HIS MINISTER “What can have brought them here, Stubber?” said the Duke of Massa, as he walked to and fro in his dressing-room, with an air of considerable perturbation. “Be assured of one thing, they have come for mischief! I know that Sabloukoff well. _She_ it was separated Prince Max from my sister, and that Montenegro affair was all _her_ doing also.” “I don't suspect--” “Don't you? Well, then, _I_ do, sir; and that's enough,” said he, interrupting. “And as to Upton, he's well known throughout Europe,--a 'mauvais coucheur,' Stubber; that's what the Emperor Franz called him,--a 'mauvais coucheur,' one of those fellows England employs to get up the embarrassments she so deeply deplores. Eh, Stubber, that's the phrase: 'While we deeply deplore the condition of the kingdom,'--that's always the exordium to sending out a fleet or an impertinent despatch. But I'll not endure it here. I have my sovereign rights, my independence, my allies. By the way, haven't my allies taken possession of the Opera House for a barrack?” “That they have, sir; and they threaten an encampment in the Court gardens.” “An open insult, an outrage! And have _you_ endured and submitted to this?” “I have refused the permission; but they may very possibly take no heed of my protest.” “And you 'll tell me that I am the ruler of this state?” “No, but I 'll say you might, if you liked to be so.” “How so, Stubber? Come, my worthy fellow, what's your plan? You have a plan, I'm certain--but I guess it: turn Protestant, hunt out the Jesuits, close the churches, demolish the monasteries, and send for an English frigate down to the Marina, where there's not water to float a fishing-boat. But no, sir, I 'll have no such alliances; I 'll throw myself upon the loyalty and attachment of my people, and--I'll raise the taxes. Eh, Stubber? We'll tax the 'colza' and the quarries! If they demur, we 'll abdicate; that's my last word,--abdicate.” “I wonder who this sick man can be that accompanies Upton,” said Stubber, who never suffered himself to be moved by his master's violence.