A clangcr ous plan
One day. Johann caille [o tell us that the King wAs now very
sick, anel that Amoincttc tle Mirubnn and a doctor were
looKing afrcr him. Bur thc 1)ul« e i1ever leFt Ituper(of Hentzau
alone with Amoinct[C.I umlcr stood why, 2l Ftcr whit ltupe-r
had told ille. There wcrc oFccn angry voices in thc cIstlc these
days,. Johann tolti us.
Two oFthe Slx were nnw clctltl, but there wer c always two 111611
watching the King. Thc other lwo slept in a r oo111 ab«)ve incl
would hear them if 1· hcy crllcLI. Dutchar cl anel Bersonin watched
by night; lupcr[oF-lcntzlu: lmi l)c Gautct by day. Thc I)uke's
rooms were o11 the First floor, in thc new builclings of the castle,
and Antoinette's r oo111 wns o11 thc sallie floor. But at night the
Duke locl« ecl thcd«)ol-ofhcr r oo111, anel pulled up thcdrawbridge.
He kept thc kcy himst-If., Johann slept near the front Uoor of thc
new castle with five other o11-bur rhcy had no guns.
We coulci no[walt iny I«)nger. 'Listen!' I said to. Johann.
° I'll make you r ich if you tlo what I say.'. Iohann agr ceLl.
'You illust ral« c rhis 11o[c to Maclame clc Mauban,' I said,
'and tomow ow, ar two o'clock in thc morning, you must open
the front cioor oF the ncw castle. Tell thc others that you need
air, or something-aml then cscajrc.'
. lohann was clear Iy nfr ai« l, hut he seemed to unclcrsrand. I
explained my plm 1o Snpl md Fr i[z.
'whenjohann opens the front door,'I said,'Sapr and his men
will rL1n into the castle and hold the men who are sleeping there.
At the same time Antoinette will scream louclly again and again.
She'll cry"Helpt Help me, Michael!"And she'll shout Rupert of
Hentzau's name. Duke Michael will hear and he'll run out of his
room-str aight into the hands of Sapt! Sapt will get the key from
the Duke and let down the drawbridge. Rupert and De Gautet
will hear the noise and hurry to cross the cirawbridge. I'll hide by
the bridge, in the moat, and when they try to cross, I'll kill them.
Then we'll hurry to the r oom where the King is, and kill Detchar« l
and Bersonin before they have time to kill thc King.'
The others listened in silence. It was a very dangerous plan,
and 1 dicl not really think it would work-but we hacl to rry!
That evening went to visit Flavia. She seemed very
thoughtful, and as I was leaving, she placed a ring on my
finger. I was wearing the King's ring, but I toole off trry
Rassendyll family ring and gave it to
her. 'Wear this for me always,' I said.
She kissed the ring, and replied
seriously, 'I'll wear it until the day I
die,'
And then had to leave her. I had
airea cly told the Marshal thatifanything
happened to the King, he must tal« c
Flavia to Strelsau, tell the people that
Duke Michael had killed the King-
and that Flavia was their Queen. I wedr J. bis lor ilte
knew this could be my last day alive. Q/tuays.'