They fled without waiting for a parting stroke. Ughtred lowered his sword and let them pass. There were three dead and wounded in the room, and Domiloff lay on his back where the King had thrown him. The King turned to Marie.
"You are a brave woman," he said. "You have saved both our lives."
But she held out both her hands to him, and her eyes were streaming.
"Your Majesty has saved more than my life," she faltered, "and I have not deserved it. I have been your enemy."
"We have fought together," he said. "Henceforth we should be comrades."
Eleven men sat around a long table in one of the rooms of the Reist house. They talked only in whispers, and a general air of uneasiness was apparent. It was rumoured that the King was in the city, and these men felt themselves to be conspirators. Domiloff was strangely absent. The Countess of Reist in her own house had omitted to offer them a welcome.
Their suspense was temporarily ended, however. The door opened, and Baron Doxis entered, followed by a foreigner, whom most of them recognized. They rose to their feet. Baron Doxis presented the guest.
"My colleagues," he announced, "this is Monsieur Gourdolis, the accredited envoy of the Czar to us. He has certain proposals to submit upon which we will at once debate."
"Has the Countess of Reist any message to us from her brother?"
"The Countess of Reist," Baron Doxis answered, "is unaccountably absent."
"And Domiloff?" another asked. "It is chiefly owing to his representations that we are assembled here to-day. Is he too absent?"
There was a moment's silence. Then Gourdolis spoke.
"Gentlemen," he said, "my friend Domiloff will be with us doubtless before this meeting is dissolved. In the meantime, I will, with your permission, lay before you the terms on which my august master the Czar is willing to stay the hand of Turkey, by force if necessary, and guarantee your independence."
Some heavy curtains at the end of the room were suddenly thrown aside. The King stood there, and by his side Marie of Reist.
"My arrival, it would appear, is opportune," the King said, grimly. "Address yourself to me, and proceed, Monsieur Gourdolis."
One by one the members of the Council staggered to their feet. The coming of the King was like a bombshell thrown amongst them. They were met in secret conclave, a proceeding to the last degree unconstitutional. They were receiving, too, an emissary from a foreign country which amounted to high treason. Doxis was perhaps the first to recover himself.