PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
 Duke Universitj 
 
 Rare Books 
 
■K 'V 
 
 r 
 
ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
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ANNO DOMINI 2000; 
 
 WOMAN'S DESTINY. 
 
 SIR JULIUS VOGEL, K.C.M.G. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HUTCHINSON AND CO., 
 
 25, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 
 
 1889. 
 
Printed by Hazell, Watson, i> Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. 
 

 TO 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 THE EARL OF CARNARVON, 
 
 WHO, BY HIS SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO CON- ' 
 SOLIDATE THE CANADIAN DOMINIONS, HAS 
 GREATLY AIDED THE CAUSE 
 OF FEDERATION. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PROLOGUE 3 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE YEAR 2000 — UNITED BRITAIN . . . -27 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 THE EMPEROR AND HILDA FITZHERBERT . . 59 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA 67 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A PARTIAL VICTORY 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 CABINET NEGOTIATIONS 99 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 BAFFLED REVENGE IIQ 
 
viii C0N2ENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 HEROINE WORSHIP 164 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 AIR-CRUISERS 1/7 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE .... I93 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 LORD REGINALD AGAIN 2X5 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 GRATEFUL IRELAND 233 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGN . -251 
 
 CHAPTER Xni, 
 LOVE AND WAR 261 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 THE rOL'RTH OF JULY RETRIEVED .... 287 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CONCLUSION 295 
 
 EPILOGUE 309 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
PROLOGUE 
 
 A.D. 1920. 
 
 r^ EORGE CLAUDE SONSIUS in his 
 ^— ^ early youth appeared to have before him 
 a fair, prosperous future. His father and 
 mother were of good family, but neither of 
 them inherited wealth. When young Sonsius 
 finished his university career, the small fortune 
 which his father possessed was swept away by 
 the failure of a large banking company. All 
 that remained from the wreck was a trifling 
 annuity payable during the lives of his father 
 and mother, and this they did not live long to 
 enjoy. They died within a year of each other, 
 but they had been able to obtain for their son a 
 fairly good position in a large mercantile house 
 as foreign corrtspondent. At twenty-five the 
 young man married; and three years afterwards 
 
4 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 he unfortunately met with a serious accident, 
 that made him lor two years a helpless invalid 
 and at the end of the time left him with his 
 right hand incapable of use. Meanwhile his 
 appointment had lapsed, his wife's small 
 fortune had disappeared, antl during several 
 years his existence had been one continual 
 struggle with ever-increasing want and penury. 
 The end was approaching. The father and 
 mother and their one crippled son, twelve 
 years old, dwelt in the miserable attic of a 
 most dilapidated house in one of the poorest 
 neighbourhoods of London. The roof over 
 their heads did not even protect them from 
 the weather. The room was denuded of 
 every article of furniture with the exception of 
 two worthless wooden cases and a horsehair 
 mattress on which the unhappy boy stretched 
 his pain-wrung limbs. 
 
 Early in life this child suffered only from 
 weakness of the spine, but his parents could 
 afford no prolonged remedial measures. Not 
 that they were unkind to him. On the contrary, 
 they devoted to him every minute they could 
 
PROLOGUE, 5 
 
 spare, and lavished on him all the atti ntion 
 that affection comparatively powerless from want 
 of means could dictate. But the food they 
 were able to give him was scant instead of, as 
 his condition demanded, varied and nutritious. 
 At length chronic disease of the spine set in, 
 and his life became one long misery. 
 
 Parochial aid was refused unless they would 
 go into the poor-house, but the one thing Mrs. 
 Sonsius could not bring herself to endure was 
 the separation from her son which was de- 
 manded of her as a condition of relief. 
 
 For thirty hours they had been without food, 
 when the father, maddened by the moanings 
 of his wife and child, rushed into the street, 
 and passing a baker's shop which appeared 
 to be empty, stole from it a loaf of bread. The 
 proprietor, however, saw the action from an 
 inner room. He caught Sonsius just as he 
 was leaving the shop. He did not care to give 
 the thief in charge, necessitating as it would 
 several attendances at the police court. He 
 took the administration of justice into his own 
 hands, and dealt the unhappy man two severe 
 
6 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 Iilows in the face. To a healthy person the 
 punishment would have done comparatively 
 little harm, but Sonsius was weakened by 
 disease and starvation, and the shock of the 
 blows was too much for him. He fell prone 
 on the pavement, and ail attempts to restore 
 him to consciousness proved unavailing. 
 
 Then his history became public property. 
 Scores of people remembered the pleasant- 
 mannered, well-looking young man who had 
 distinguished himself at college, and for whom 
 life seemed to promise a pleasant journey. 
 The horrible condition of his wife and child, 
 the desperation that drove him to the one 
 lapse from an otherwise stainless life, the 
 frightful contrast between the hidden poverty 
 and the gorgeous wealth of the great metropolis, 
 became themes upon which every newspaper 
 dilated after its own fashion. Some papers 
 even went so far as to ask, " Was it a crime 
 for a man to steal a loaf of bread to save his 
 wife and child from starvation ? " 
 
 In grim contrast with the terrible con- 
 clusion of his wretched career, the publicity 
 
PROLOGUE. 7 
 
 cast upon it elicited the fact that a few weeks 
 earlier he had inherited by the death of a 
 distant relative an enormous fortune, all efforts 
 to trace him through the changes of residence 
 that increasing poverty had necessitated having 
 proved unavailing. Now that the wretched 
 father and husband was dead, the wife for 
 whom the bread was stolen had become a 
 great lady, the boy was at length to receive 
 the aid that wealth could give him. Poor 
 George Claude Sonsius has nothing to do 
 with our story, but his fate led to the allevia- 
 tion of a great deal of misery that otherwise 
 might have been in store for millions of human 
 beings. 
 
 Loud and clear rang out the cry, "What was 
 the use of denouncing slavery when want like 
 this was allowed to pass unheeded by the side 
 of superfluous wealth ? " The slave-owner has 
 sufficient interest in his slaves, it was alleged, 
 as a rule, to care for their well-being. Even 
 criminals were clothed and fed. 
 
 Had not, it was asked, every human being the 
 right to demand from a world which through 
 
8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 the resources of experience and science became 
 constantly more productive a sufficiency of 
 sustenance ? 
 
 The inquest room was crowded. The 
 coroner and jur}' were strongly affected as 
 thej' viewed the body laid out in a luxuriously 
 appointed coffin. Wealth denied to the living 
 was lavished on the dead. No longer in rags 
 and tatters, the lifeless body seemed to revert 
 to the past. Shrunken as was the frame, and 
 emaciated the features, there remained evidence 
 sufficient to show that the now inanimate form 
 was once a fine and handsome man. 
 
 The evidence was short, and the summing 
 up of the coroner decisive. He insisted that 
 the baker had not wilfully committed wrong 
 and should not be made responsible for 
 the consequences that followed his rough 
 recovery of his property. A butcher and a 
 general provision dealer on the jury took 
 strongly the same view. How were poor 
 tradesmen to protect themselves ? They 
 must take the law in their own hands, the}^ 
 argued, otherwise it would be better to sub- 
 
PROLOGUE. 9 
 
 niit to being robbed ratber than waste their 
 time in police courts. They wanted a verdict 
 of justifial:)le homicide. Another juryman (a 
 small builder) urged a verdict of misadventure ; 
 at first be called it peradventure. But the 
 rest of the jur}' felt otherwise. Some desired 
 a verdict of manslaughter, and it was long 
 before the compromise of " Death by accident " 
 was agreed to. 
 
 Deep groans filled the room as the result 
 was announced. That same night a large 
 crowd of men and women assembled outside 
 the baker's shop with hostile demonstrations. 
 The windows were destroyed, and an attempt 
 made to break in the door. A serious riot 
 would probably have ensued but for the 
 arrival of a large body of police. 
 
 Again the fate of George Sonsius became 
 the familiar topic of the press. But the im- 
 pression was not an ephemeral one. 
 
 The fierce spirit of discontent which for 
 years had been smouldering burst into flames. 
 A secret society called the " Live and Let Live " 
 was formed, with ramifications throughout 
 
10 ANNO DOMINI -2000. 
 
 the world. The force of numbers, the force of 
 brute strength, was appealed to. 
 
 A bold and outspoken declaration was made 
 that every human being had an inherent right 
 to sufficient food and clothing and comfortable 
 lodging. Truly poor George Sonsius died for 
 the good of many millions of his fellow- 
 creatures. Our history will show the point at 
 length achieved. 
 
 Shortly after poor Sonsius' death a remark- 
 able meeting was held in the city of London. 
 The representatives of six of the largest finan- 
 cial houses throughout the globe assembled by 
 agreement to discuss the present material con- 
 dition of the world and its future prospects. 
 There was Lord de Cardrosse, head of the 
 English house of that name and chief, moreover, 
 of the family, whose branches presided over 
 princely houses of finance in six of the chief 
 cities of the continent of Europe. Second 
 only in power in Great Britain, the house of 
 Bisdat and Co. was represented by Charles 
 James Bisdat, a man of scarcely forty, but held 
 to be the greatest living authority on abstruse 
 
PROLOGUE. II 
 
 financial questions. The Dutch house of Von 
 Serge Brothers was represented by its head, 
 Cornelius Julius Von Serge. The greatest 
 finance house in America, Rorgon, Bryce 
 and Co., appeared by its chief, Henry Tudor 
 Rorgon ; and the scarcely less powerful house 
 of Lockay, Stanfield and Co., of San Francisco, 
 Melbourne, Sydney, and Wellington, was 
 represented b}^ its chief, Alfred Demetrius. 
 The German and African house of Werther, 
 Scribe and Co. was present in the person 
 of its head, Baron Scribe ; and the French and 
 Continental houses of the De Cardrosse family 
 were represented by the future head of the 
 family, the Baroness de Cardrosse. The 
 deliberations were carried on in French. 
 
 Two or more of these houses had no doubt 
 from time to time worked together in one 
 transaction ; but their uniform position was 
 one of independence towards each other, verg- 
 ing more towards antagonism than to union. 
 In fact, the junction for ordinary purposes of 
 such vast powers as these kings of finance 
 wielded would be fatal to liberty and freedom. 
 
12 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 A single instance will sni'Iice to show the 
 power referred to, which even one gronp of 
 tinanciei's conld wield. 
 
 Five years previously all Europe was in a fer- 
 ment. War was expected from every quarter. 
 It depended not on one, but on many questions. 
 The alliances were doubtful. Nothing seemed 
 certain but that neutrality would be impos- 
 sible, and that the Continent would be divided 
 into two or more great camps. The final 
 decision appeared to rest with Great Britain. 
 There an ominous disposition for war was dis- 
 playing itself. The inclination of the Sovereign 
 and the Cabinet was supposed to be in that 
 direction. But the family of De Cardrosses 
 throughout Europe was for peace. The chief 
 of the family was the head of the English house, 
 and it was decided he should interview the Prime 
 Minister of England and acquaint him with the 
 views of this great financial group. His recep- 
 tion was not flattering ; but if he felt mortified, 
 he did not show it. He expressed himself 
 deeply sensible of the honour done to him by his 
 being allowed to state his opinions ; and with 
 
PROLOGUE. 13 
 
 a reverential inclination he bowed himself from 
 the presence of the greatest statesman of his 
 day, the Right Honourable Randolph Stanley. 
 That afternoon it was bruited about that, in 
 view of coming possibilities, the De Cardrosse 
 family had determined to realise securities all 
 over Europe and send gold to America. The 
 next morning a disposition to sell was reported 
 from every direction, and five millions sterling 
 of gold were collected for despatch to New York. 
 In twenty-four hours there was a panic through- 
 out Great Britain and Europe. The Bank of 
 England asked for permission to suspend specie 
 payments, but could indicate no limit to which 
 such a permission should be set. It seemed 
 as if Europe would be drained of gold. 
 
 The great rivals of the De Cardrosses looked 
 on and either could not or would not interfere. 
 A hurried Cabinet meeting was convened, and 
 as a result a conference by telephone was 
 arranged between the Prime Minister of Great 
 Britain and the Ministers of the Great Powers 
 of Europe. Commencing by twos and threes, 
 the conference developed into an assemblage 
 
14 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 for conversational purposes of at least twenty 
 of the chief statesmen and diplomatists of the 
 Old World. Rumour said that even monarchs 
 in two or three cases were present and inspired 
 the telephonic utterances of their Ministers. 
 How the result was arrived at was known 
 best to those who took part in the conference, 
 but peace and disarmament were agreed on if 
 certain contingencies involving the exercise 
 of vast power and the expenditure of enormous 
 capital could be provided for. No other con- 
 clusion could be arrived at, and one way or the 
 other the outcome had to be settled within 
 twenty-four hours. The conference had lasted 
 from ten o'clock to four. At five o'clock by 
 invitation Lord de Cardrosse waited on the 
 Prime Minister, who received him much more 
 cordially than before. 
 
 " You have caused me," he said, " to learn 
 a great deal during the last forty-eight hours." 
 
 " I could not presume to teach you anything. 
 Events have spoken," was the reply. 
 
 " And who controlled them if not the houses 
 of De Cardrosse ? " 
 
PROLOGUE. 15 
 
 " You do us too much honour. It is you 
 who govern; we are of those who are 
 governed." 
 
 " The aUiance between power and modesty," 
 said the Prime Minister, with pardonable irony, 
 " is irresistible. Tell me, my Lord, is it too 
 late for your views to prevail ? " 
 
 A slight, almost imperceptible start was the 
 only movement the De Cardrosse made. The 
 enormous self-repression he was exercising 
 cannot be exaggerated. The future strength 
 of the family depended on the issue. There 
 was, however, no tremor in his voice when he 
 answered, " If you adopt them, I do not think 
 it is too late." 
 
 "But do you realise the sacrilices in all 
 directions that have to be made?" said the 
 Minister in faltering tones. 
 
 " I think I do." 
 
 "And you think to secure peace those sacri- 
 fices should be made ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 "Will you tell me what those sacrifices 
 are ? " he asked. 
 
i6 AA^AO DOMIXI 2000. 
 
 Lord de Cardrosse sriiikd. "You desire 
 me," he said, "to tell you what you alreatly 
 know." Then he proceeded to descrihe to the 
 amazed Prime Minister in brief but pregnant 
 terms one after the other the conditions that 
 had been agreed on. Once only he paused 
 and indicated that the condition he was 
 describing he accepted reluctantly. 
 
 " I do not conceal," said the astounded 
 Prime IMinister, '' my surprise at the extent of 
 your knowledge ; and clearly you approve the 
 only compromise possible. It is needless to 
 tell you that the acceptance of this compromise 
 requires the use of means not at the disposal 
 of the Governments. In one word, will it suit 
 3'ou to supply them ? " 
 
 " I might," responded Lord de Cardrosse, 
 "ask you until two o'clock to-morrow to give 
 a« answer ; but I do not wish to add to your 
 anxiety. If you will undertake to entirely 
 and absolutely confine within your own breast 
 the knowledge of what my answer will be, I 
 \s'\\\ undertake that that answer at two o'clock 
 to -morrow sliall be 'Yes.'" 
 
PROLOGUE. 17 
 
 Silently they shook hands. Probably these 
 two men had never before so thoroughly 
 appreciated the strength and speciality of their 
 several powers. 
 
 The panic continued until two o'clock the 
 following day, when an enormous reaction took 
 place. The part the De Cardrosse family 
 played in securing peace was suspected b}' 
 a few only. Its full extent the Prime Minister 
 alone knew. He it was who enjoyed the 
 credit for saving the world from a desolating 
 war. 
 
 And now, after an interval of five years, 
 the sovereigns of finance met in conclave. In 
 obedience to the generally expressed wish, 
 Lord de Cardrosse took the chair. " I need 
 scarcely say," he began, " that I am deeply 
 sensible of the compliment you pay me in 
 asking me to preside over such a meeting. 
 We in this room represent a living power 
 throughout the globe, before which the reign- 
 ing sovereigns of the world are comparatively 
 helpless. But, because of our great strength, 
 it is undesirable that we should work unitedly 
 
 2 
 
i8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 except for ver}' great and humane objects. 
 For the mere purpose of money-making, I feel 
 assured you all agree with me in desiring no 
 combination, no monopoly, that would pit us 
 against the rest of the world." 
 
 He paused for a moment, evidently desiring 
 to disguise the strength of the emotion with 
 which he spoke. 
 
 He resumed in slower and apparently more 
 mastered words. " I wish I could put it to 
 3'ou sufficiently strongly that our houses would 
 not have considered any good that could result 
 to them and to you a sufficient excuse for 
 inviting such a combination. We hold that 
 the only cause that could justify it is the 
 conviction that for the good of mankind a 
 vast power requires to be wielded which is 
 not to be found in the ordinary machinery' 
 of government." 
 
 A murmur of applause went round the table ; 
 and Mr. Demetrius, with much feeling, said, 
 " You make me very happy by the assurance 
 you have given. I will not conceal from you 
 that our house anticipated as much, or it 
 
PROLOGUE. 19 
 
 would not have been represented. We are 
 too largely concerned with States in which 
 free institutions are permanent not to avoid 
 anything which might savour of a disposition 
 to combine financial forces for the benefit of 
 financial houses." 
 
 Lord de Cardrosse then proceeded to explain 
 that his family, in serious and prolonged 
 conclave, could come to no other conclusion 
 than that certain influences were at work 
 which would cause great suffering to mankind 
 and sap and destroy the best institutions 
 which civilisation and science had combined 
 to create. The time had come to answer the 
 question, Should human knowledge, human 
 wants, and human skill continue to advance 
 to an extent to which no limit could be put, 
 or should the survival of the fittest and 
 strongest be fought out in a period of anarchy ? 
 " It amounts," he said in a tone of profound 
 conviction, " to this : the ills under which the 
 masses suffer accumulate. There is no use in 
 comparing what they have to-day with what 
 they had fifty years ago. A person who grows 
 
20 AJ^A'O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 from infancy to manhood in a prison may feel 
 contented until he knows what the liberty is 
 that others enjoy. The born blind are happier 
 than those who become blind by accident. 
 To our masses the knowledge of liberty is 
 open, and they feel they are needlessly deprived 
 of it. Wider and wider to their increasing 
 knowledge opens out the horizon of possible 
 delights ; more and more do they feel that they 
 are deprived of what of right belongs to them." 
 
 He paused, as if inviting some remarks from 
 his hearers. 
 
 Mr. Bisdat, who spoke in an interrogative 
 rather than an affirmative tone, took up the 
 thread. 
 
 " I am right, I think, in concluding that your 
 remarks do not point against or in favour of 
 any school of politics or doctrines of part}'. 
 You direct our notice to causes below the 
 surface to which the Government of the da}' — 
 I had almost said the hour,- do not penetrate, 
 causes which you believe, if left to unchecked 
 operation, will undermine the whole social 
 fabric." 
 
PROLOGUE. 21 
 
 " It is so," emphatically replied Lord de 
 Cardrosse. " The evils are not only apparent ; 
 but equally apparent is it that no remedy is 
 being applied, and that we are riding head- 
 long to anarchy." 
 
 Again he paused, and Mr. Rorgon took up 
 the discussion. " If we," he said, " the princes 
 of finance, do not find a remedy, how long will 
 the enlarged intelligence of the people submit 
 to conditions which are at war with the theory 
 of the equality and liberty of mankind ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the Baroness de Cardrosse, 
 speaking for the first time, " it is clear that 
 there is a limit to the inequality of fortune to 
 which men and women will submit. Equahty 
 of possessions there cannot be ; but, if I may 
 indulge in metaphor, we cannot expect that 
 the bulk of humankind will be content with 
 being entirely shut out from the sunlight of 
 existence." 
 
 The gentlemen present bowed low in ap- 
 proval ; and Mr. Demetrius said, "The simile 
 of the Baroness is singularly appropriate. 
 There are myriads of human beings to whom 
 
32 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 the sunshine of life is denied. A too universal 
 evil invites resistance by means which in lesser 
 cases might be scouted. In short, if the 
 remedy is left to anarchy, anarchy there will 
 be. Even in our young lands the shadow of 
 the coming evil is beginning to show itself. 
 Indeed," he added, with an air of musing 
 abstraction, "it is not unfair to deduce from 
 what has been said, that, even if the evils are 
 less in the new lands of the West and the 
 South, superior general intelligence may more 
 than proportionally increase the wants of the 
 multitude and the sense of wrong under which 
 they labour." 
 
 The conference extended over three days. 
 Every one agreed that interference with the 
 ordinary conditions of finance was inexpedient 
 except in extreme cases, but they were unani- 
 mous in thinking that an extreme case had 
 to be dealt with. They finally decided by the 
 use of an extended paper currency, with its 
 necessary guarantees, to increase the circulat- 
 ing medium and to raise the prices both of 
 products and labour. Some other decisions 
 
PROLOGUE. 2^ 
 
 were adopted having especial reference to the 
 employment of labour and insurance against 
 want in cases of disablement through illness, 
 accident, or old age. 
 
 So ended the most remarkable conference 
 of any age or time. 
 
I. 
 
 THE YEAR 2000- UNITED BRITAIN. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE YEAR 2000 — UNITED BRITAIN. 
 
 ' I "IME has passed. There have been many 
 alterations, few of an extreme character. 
 The changes are mostly the results of gradual 
 developments worked out by the natural 
 progress of natural laws. But as constant 
 dropping wears away a stone, constant pro- 
 gression, comparatively imperceptible in its 
 course, attains to immense distances after the 
 lapse of time. This applies though the 
 momentum continually increases the rate of 
 the progress. Thus the well-being of the 
 human kind has undoubtedly increased much 
 more largely during the period between 
 1900 and 2000 than during the previous 
 century, but equally in either century would 
 it be difficult to select any five years as an 
 
28 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 example ot" the turning-point of advancement. 
 Progression, progression, always progression, 
 has been the history of the centuries since the 
 birth of Christ. Doubtless the century we 
 have now entered on will be yet more fruitful 
 of human advancement than any of its pre- 
 decessors. The strongest point of the century 
 which 
 
 " Has gone, with its thorns and its roses, 
 With the dust of dead ages to mix," 
 
 has been the astonishing improvement of the 
 condition of mankind and the no less striking 
 advancement of the intellectual power of 
 woman. 
 
 The barriers which man in his own interest 
 set to the occupation of woman having once 
 been broken down, the progress of woman in 
 all pursuits requiring judgment and intellect 
 has been continuous ; and the sum of that pro- 
 gress is enormous. It has, in fact, come to be 
 accepted that the bodily power is greater in 
 man, and the mental power larger in woman. 
 So to speak, woman has become the guiding. 
 
THE YEAR mm— UNITED BRITAIN. 29 
 
 man the executive, force of the world. Progress 
 has necessarily become greater because it is 
 found that women bring to the aid of more 
 subtle intellectual capabilities faculties of 
 imagination that are the necessary adjuncts of 
 improvement. The arts and caprices which in 
 old days were called feminine proved to be the 
 silken chains fastened by men on women to 
 lull them into inaction. Without abating an}' 
 of their charms, women have long ceased to 
 submit to be the playthings of men. They 
 lead men, as of yore, but not so much through 
 the fancy or the senses as through the legiti- 
 mate consciousness of the man that in fol- 
 lowing woman's guidance he is tending to 
 higher purposes. We are generalising ot 
 course to a certain extent. The variable 
 extent of women's influence is now, as it has 
 been throughout the ages past, the point on 
 which most of the dramas of the human race 
 depend. 
 
 The increased enjoyment of mankind is a no 
 less striking feature of the last Innidred years. 
 Long since a general recognition was given to 
 
30 ANNO DOM TNI 2000. 
 
 the theory that, whilst equahty of possession 
 was an impossible and indeed undesirable ideal, 
 there should be a minimum of enjoyment of 
 which no human being should be deprived un- 
 less on account of crime. Crime as an occupa- 
 tion has become unknown, and hereditary crime 
 rendered impossible. On the other hand, the 
 law has constituted such provisions for reserves 
 of wealth that anything more than temporary 
 destitution is precluded. Such temporary 
 destitution can only be the result of sheer 
 improvidence, the expenditure, for instance, 
 within a day of what should be expended in a 
 week. The moment it becomes evident, its 
 recurrence is rendered impossible, because the 
 assistance, instead of being given weekly, is 
 rendered daily. Private charity has been 
 minimised ; indeed, it is considered to be 
 injurious : and all laws for the recovery of debts 
 have been abolished. The decision as to 
 whether there is debt and its amount is still to 
 be obtained, but the satisfaction of all debt 
 depends solely on the sense of honour or 
 expediency of the debtor. The posting the 
 
THE YEAR 2Q0Q— UNITED BRITAIN. 31 
 
 name of a debtor who refuses to satisfy his 
 HabiHties has been found to be far more effica- 
 cious than any process of law. 
 
 The enjoyment of what in the past would 
 have been considered luxuries has become 
 general. The poorest household has with 
 respect to comforts and provisions a profusion 
 which a hundred years since was wanting in 
 households of the advanced classes. 
 
 Long since there dawned upon the world the 
 conviction — 
 
 First. That labour or work of some kind 
 was the only condition of general happiness. 
 
 Second. That every human being was 
 entitled to a certain proportion of the world's 
 good things. 
 
 Third. That, as the capacity of machinery 
 and the population of the world increased pro- 
 duction, the theory of the need of labour could 
 not be realised unless with a corresponding 
 increase of the wants of mankind ; and that, 
 instead of encouraging a degraded style of 
 living, it was in the interests of the happiness 
 of mankind to encourage a style of living in 
 
32 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 which the refinements of Ufe received marked 
 consideration. 
 
 Great Britain, as it used to be called, has 
 long ceased to be a bundle of sticks. The 
 British dominions have been consolidated into 
 the empire of United Britain ; and not only is 
 it the most powerful empire on the globe, but 
 at present no sign is shown of any tendency 
 to weakness or decay. Yet there was a time 
 — about the year 1920 — when the utter disin- 
 tegration of the Empire seemed not only 
 possible, but probable. 
 
 The Irish question was still undecided. For 
 many years it had continued to be the sport 
 of Ministers. Cabinet succeeded Cabinet ; 
 each had its Irish nostrum ; each seemed to 
 think that the Irish question was a good means 
 of delaying questions nearer home. The power 
 of the nation sensibl}' waned. What nation 
 could be strong with pronounced disaffection 
 festering in its midst ? At length, when 
 rumours of a great war were rife upon the 
 result of which the very existence of Great 
 Britain as a nation might depend, the Colonies 
 
THE YEAR 200Q— UNITED BRITAIN. 33 
 
 interposed. By this time the Canadian, Aus- 
 tralasian, and Cape colonies had become rich, 
 populous, and powerful. United, they far 
 exceeded in importance the original mother- 
 country. 
 
 At the instigation of the Premier of Canada, 
 a confidential intercolonial conference was held. 
 In consequence of the deliberations that ensued, 
 a united representation was made to the Prime 
 Minister of England to the effect that the 
 Colonies could no longer regard without con- 
 cern the prolonged disquiet prevailing in 
 Ireland. They would suffer should any dis- 
 aster overtake the Empire, and disaster was 
 courted by permitting the continuation of Irish 
 disaffection. Besides, the Colonies, enjoying 
 as they did local government, could see no 
 reason why Ireland should be treated dif- 
 ferently. The message was a mandate, and 
 was meant to be so. The Prime Minister of 
 England, however, puffed up with the pride of 
 old traditions, did not or would not so under- 
 stand it, and returned an insolent answer. 
 Within twenty-four hours the Colonial Ministers 
 
 3 
 
34 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 sent a joint respectful address to the King of 
 England representing that they were equally 
 his Majesty's advisers with his Ministers 
 residing in England, and refusing to make 
 any further communications to or through his 
 present advisers. 
 
 The Ministry had to retire ; a new one was 
 formed. Ireland received the boon it had long 
 claimed of local government, and the whole 
 Empire was federated on the condition that the 
 federation was irrevocable and that every part 
 of it should fight to the last to preserve the 
 union. The King of England and Emperor of 
 India was crowned amidst great pomp Emperor 
 of Britain. All parts of the Empire joined 
 their strength and resources. A federal fleet 
 was formed on the basis that it was to equal 
 in power in every respect the united fleets of 
 all the rest of the world. Conferences with 
 the Great Powers took place in consequence of 
 which Egypt, Belgium, and the whole of the 
 ports bordering the English Channel and 
 Straits of Dover, and the whole of South 
 Africa became incorporated into the empire of 
 
THE YEAR 2(m~ UNITED BRITAIN. 35 
 
 Britain. Some concessions, however, were 
 made in other directions. These results were 
 achieved within fifteen years of the interference 
 by the Colonies in federal affairs, and the 
 foundation was laid for the powerful empire 
 which Britain has become. Two other empires 
 and one republic alone approach it in power, 
 and a cordial understanding exists between 
 them to repress war to the utmost extent 
 possible. They constitute the police of the 
 world. Each portion of the Emperor of 
 Britain's possessions enjoys local government, 
 but the federal government is irresistibly 
 strong. It is difficult to say which is the seat 
 of government, as the Federal Parliament is 
 held in different parts of the world, and the 
 Emperor resides in many places. With the 
 utmost comfort he can go from end to end of 
 his dominions in twelve days. 
 
 If a headquarter does remain, it may probably 
 be conceded that Alexandria fulfils that position. 
 
 The House of Lords has ceased to exist as 
 a separate chamber. The peers began to feel 
 ashamed of holding positions not in virtue of 
 
36 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 their abilities, but because of the accident of 
 birth. It was they who first sought and ulti- 
 mately obtained the right to hold seats in the 
 elective branch of the Legislature ; and finally 
 it was decided that the peerage should elect a 
 certain number of its own members to represent 
 it in the Federal Parliament : in other words, 
 the accidents of birth were controlled by the 
 selection of the fittest. 
 
 Our scene opens in Melbourne, in the year 
 2000 — a few years prior to the date at which 
 we are v.Titing. The Federal Parliament was 
 sitting there that year. The Emperor occupied 
 his magnificent palace on the banks of the Yarra, 
 above Melbourne, which city and its suburbs 
 possessed a population of nearly two millions. 
 
 In a large and handsome room in the Federal 
 buildings, a young woman of about twenty- 
 three years of age was seated. She was born 
 in New Zealand. She entered the local parlia- 
 ment before she was twenty.* At twenty-two 
 
 * Every adult of eighteen years of age \\as allowed to vote 
 and was consequently, by the laws of the Empire, eligible 
 for election. 
 
THE YEAR 2QW— UNITED BRITAIN. t,j 
 
 she was elected to the Federal Parliament, and 
 she had now become Under-Secretary of State 
 for Home Affairs. From her earliest youth she 
 had never failed in any intellectual exercise. 
 Her intelligence was considered phenomenal. 
 Her name was Hilda Richmond Fitzherbert. 
 She was descended from families which for 
 upwards of a century produced distinguished 
 statesmen — a word, it should be mentioned, 
 which includes both sexes. She was fair to look 
 at in both face and figure. Dark violet eyes, 
 brown hair flecked with a golden tinge, clearly 
 cut features, and a glorious complexion made 
 up a face artistically perfect ; but these charms 
 were what the observer least noticed. The 
 expression of the face was by far its chief 
 attraction, and words fail to do justice to it. 
 There was about it a luminous intelligence, a 
 purity, and a pathos that seemed to belong to 
 another world. No trace of passion yet stamped 
 it. If the love given to all humanity ever 
 became a love devoted to one person, the ex- 
 pression of the features might descend from 
 the spiritual to the passionate. Even then to 
 
38 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 human gaze it might become more fascinating. 
 But that test had not come. As she rose from 
 her chair you saw that she was well formed, 
 though slight in figure and of full height. She 
 went to an instrument at a side-table, and spoke 
 to it, the materials for some half-dozen letters re- 
 ferring to groups of papers that lay on the table. 
 When she concluded, she summoned a secre- 
 tary, who removed the papers and the phono- 
 gram on which her voice had been impressed. 
 These letters were reproduced, and brought 
 to her for signature. Copies attached to the 
 several papers were initialled. Meanwhile she 
 paced up and down the room in evident deep dis- 
 traction. At length she summoned a messenger, 
 and asked him to tell the Countess of Middlesex 
 that she wished to see her. In a few minutes 
 Lady Middlesex entered the room. She was 
 about thirty years of age, of middle height, 
 and pleasing appearance, though a close ob- 
 server might imagine he saw something sinister 
 in the expression of her countenance. After 
 a somewhat ceremonious greeting. Miss Fitz- 
 herbert commenced : "I have carefully con- 
 
THE YEAR lOOO-UAUTED BRITAIN. 39 
 
 sidered what passed at our last interview. It 
 is difficult to separate our official and unofficial 
 relations. I am still at a loss to determine 
 whether you have spoken to me as the Assistant 
 Under-Secretary to the Under-Secretary or as 
 woman to woman." 
 
 Lady Middlesex quickly rejoined, " Will you 
 let me speak to you as woman to woman, and 
 forget for a moment our official relations ? " 
 
 "Can you doubt it ?" replied Miss Fitzher- 
 bert. " But remember that our wishes are not 
 always under our control, and that, though I 
 may not desire to remember to your prejudice 
 what you say, I may not be able to free 
 myself from recollection." 
 
 "And yet," said Lady Middlesex, with 
 scarcely veiled irony, " the world says Miss 
 Fitzherbert does not know what prejudice 
 means ! " 
 
 The slightest possible movement of im- 
 patience was all the rejoinder vouchsafed to 
 this speech. 
 
 Lady Middlesex continued, " I spoke to 
 you as strongl}' as I dared, as strongly as my 
 
40 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 position permitted, about my brother Reginald - 
 Lord Reginald Paramatta. He suffers under 
 a sense of injury. He is miserable. He feels 
 that it is to you that he owes his removal to 
 a distant station. He loves you, and does not 
 know if he may venture to tell you so." 
 
 " No woman," replied Miss Fitzherbert, " is 
 warranted in regarding with anger the love 
 of a good man ; but you know, or ought to 
 know, that my life is consecrated to objects 
 that are inconsistent with my entertaining the 
 love you speak of." 
 
 "But," said Lady Middlesex, "can you be 
 sure that it always will be so ? " 
 " We can be sure of nothing." 
 " Nay," replied Lady Middlesex, " do not 
 generalise. Let me at least enjoy the liberty 
 you have accorded me. If you did not feel 
 that there were possibilities for Reginald in 
 conflict with your indifference, why should 
 you trouble 3'ourself with his removal ? " 
 
 " I have not admitted that I am concerned 
 in his removal." 
 
 "You know you are; you cannot deny it." 
 
THE YEAR 2000— UNITED BR 17 A IN. 41 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert was dismayed at the position 
 into which she had allowed herself to be forced. 
 She must either state what truth forbade or 
 admit that to some extent Lord Reginald had 
 obtained a hold on her thoughts. 
 
 " Other men," pursued Lady Middlesex, with 
 remorseless directness, " have aspired as 
 Reginald does ; and you have known how to 
 dispose of their aspirations without such a 
 course as that of which my brother has been 
 the object." 
 
 " I have understood," said Miss Fitzherbert, 
 "that Lord Reginald is promoted to an import- 
 ant position, one that ought to be intensely 
 gratifying to so comparatively young a man." 
 
 " My brother has only one wish, and you are 
 its centre. He desires only one position." 
 
 " I did not infer, Lady Middlesex," said 
 Miss Fitzherbert, with some haughtiness, " that 
 you designed to use the permission you asked 
 of me to become a suitor on your brother's 
 behalf." 
 
 " Why else should 1 have asked such per- 
 mission ? " replied Lady Middlesex, with equal 
 
42 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 haughtiness. Then, with a sudden change of 
 mood and manner, " Miss Fitzherbert, forgive 
 me. My brother is all in all to me. My 
 husband and my only child are dead. My 
 brother is all that is left to me to remind me 
 of a once happy home. Do not, I pray, I 
 entreat you, embitter his life. Ask yourself — 
 forgive me for saying so — if ambition rather 
 than consecration to a special career may not 
 influence you ; and if your conscience replies 
 affirmatively, remember the time will come 
 to you, as it has come to other women, when 
 success, the applause of the crowd, and a 
 knowledge of great deeds effected will prove 
 a poor consolation for the want of one single 
 human being on whom to lavish a woman's 
 love. Most faculties become smaller by disuse, 
 but it is not so with the affections ; they re- 
 venge themselves on those who have dared to 
 disbelieve in their force." 
 
 "You assume," said Miss Fitzherbert, "that 
 I love your brother." 
 
 " Is it not so ? " 
 
 " No ! a thousand times no ! " 
 
THE YEAR 2000— UNITED BRITAIN. 43 
 
 " You feel that you might love him. That 
 is the dawn of love." 
 
 " Listen, Lady Middlesex. That davi^n has 
 not opened to me. I will not deny, I have felt 
 a prepossession in favour of your brother ; but 
 I have the strongest conviction that my 
 life will be better and happier because of my 
 refusing to give way to it. For me there 
 is no love of the kind. In lonely maidenhood 
 I will live and die. If my choice is unwise, 
 I will be the sufferer ; and I have surely the 
 right to make it. My lady, our interview is 
 at an end." 
 
 Lady Middlesex rose and bowed her adieu, 
 but another thought seemed to occur to her. 
 "You will," she said, "at least see my brother 
 before he goes. Indeed, otherwise I doubt his 
 leaving. He told me this morning that he 
 would resign." 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert after a moment's thought 
 replied, " I will see your brother. Bid him 
 call on me in two hours' time. Good-bye." 
 
 As she was left alone a look of agony came 
 over her face. " Am I wise ? " she said. 
 
44 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 " That subtle woman knew how to wound me. 
 She is right. I could love ; I could adore the 
 man I loved. Will all the triumphs of the 
 world and the sense of the good I do to others 
 console me during the years to come for the 
 sunshine of- love to which every woman has 
 a claim ? Yes, I do not deny the claim, high 
 as my conception is of a woman's destiny." 
 After a few moments' pause, she started up 
 indignantly. " Am I then," she ejaculated half 
 aloud, " that detestable thing a woman with 
 a mission, and does the sense of that mission 
 restrain me from yielding to my inclination ? " 
 Again she paused, and then resumed, " No, it 
 is not so. I have too easily accepted Lady 
 Middlesex's insinuation. I am neither ambitious 
 nor philanthropic to excess. It is a powerful 
 instinct that speaks to me about Lord Regi- 
 nald. To a certain extent I am drawn to 
 him, but I doubt him, and it is that which 
 restrains me. I am more disposed to be 
 frightened of than to love him. Why do I 
 doubt him ? Some strong impulse teaches me 
 to do so. What do I doubt ? I doubt his 
 
THE YEAR 1^^^— UNITED BRITAIN. 45 
 
 loving me with a love that will endure, I 
 doubt our proving congenial companions, and — 
 why may I not say it to myself? — I doubt his 
 character. I question his sincerity. The happi- 
 ness of a few months might be followed by a 
 Hfe of misery. I must be no weak fool to 
 allow myself to be persuaded." 
 
 Hilda Fitzherbert was a thoroughly good, 
 true-hearted, and lovable girl. Clever, well 
 informed, and cultivated to the utmost, she had 
 no disposition to prudery or priggishness. She 
 was rather inclined to under- than over-value 
 herself. Lady Middlesex's clever insinuations 
 had caused her for the moment to doubt her 
 own conduct ; but reflection returned in time, 
 and once more she became conscious that she 
 felt for Lord Reginald no more attachment 
 than any woman might entertain for a hand- 
 some, accomplished man who persistently dis- 
 played his admiration. She was well aware 
 that under ordinary circumstances such feel- 
 ings as she had, might develop into strong love 
 if there were no reverse to the picture ; but 
 in this case conviction — call it, if you will, an 
 
46 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 instinct — persuaded her there was an opposite 
 side. She felt that Lord Reginald was playing 
 a part ; that, if his true character stood revealed 
 to her, an unfathomable abyss would yawn 
 between them. 
 
 Her reflections were disturbed by the en- 
 trance of a lady of very distinguished mien. 
 She might indeed look distinguished, for the 
 Right Honourable Mrs. Hardinge was not only 
 Prime Minister of the empire of Britain, but 
 the most powerful and foremost statesman in 
 the world. In her youth she had been a lovely 
 girl ; and even now, though not less than forty 
 years of age, she was a beautiful — it might be 
 more correct to say, a grand — woman. A tall, 
 dignified, and stately figure was set off by a 
 face of which every feature was artistically 
 correct and capable of much variety of expres- 
 sion ; and over that expression she held entire 
 command. She had, if she wished it, an arch 
 and winning manner, such as no one but a 
 cultivated Irishwoman possesses ; the purest 
 Irish blood ran through her veins. She could 
 say '* No " in a manner that more delighted 
 
THE YEAR 2000— UNITED BRITAIN. 47 
 
 the person whose request she was refusing 
 than would " Yes " from other Hps. An adept 
 in all the arts of conversation, she could elicit 
 information from the most inscrutable states- 
 men, who under her influence would fancy she 
 was more confidential to them than they to her. 
 By indomitable strength she had fought down 
 an early inclination to impulsiveness. The 
 appearance still remained, but no statesman 
 was more slow to form opinions and less prone 
 to change them. She could, if necessary, in case 
 of emergency, act with lightning rapidity ; but 
 she had schooled herself to so act only in cases of 
 extreme need. She had a warm heart, and in the 
 private relations of life no one was better liked. 
 
 Hilda Fitzherbert worshipped her ; and Mrs. 
 Hardinge, childless and with few relations, 
 loved and admired the girl with a strength 
 and tenacity that made their official relations 
 singularly pleasant. 
 
 "My dear Hilda," she said, "why do you 
 look so disturbed, and how is it you are idle ? 
 It is rare to find you unoccupied." 
 
 Hilda, almost in tears, responded, " Dear 
 
48 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge, tell me, do tell me, what do you 
 really think of Lord Reginald Paramatta ? " 
 
 If Mrs. Hardinge felt any surprise at the 
 extraordinary abruptness of the question, she 
 did not permit it to be visible. 
 
 " My dear, the less you think of him the 
 better. I will tell you how I read his character. 
 He is unstable and insincere, capable of any 
 exertion to attain the object on which he has 
 set his mind ; the moment he has gained it the 
 victory becomes distasteful to him. I have 
 offered him the command of our London forces 
 to please you, but I tell you frankly I did so 
 with reluctance. Nor would I have promoted 
 him to the post but that it has long ceased 
 to possess more than traditional importance. 
 Those chartered sybarites the Londoners 
 can receive little harm from Lord Reginald, 
 and the time has long passed for him to 
 receive any good. Such as it is, his cha- 
 racter is moulded ; and professionally he is 
 no doubt an accomplished officer and brave 
 soldier. Besides that, he possesses more than 
 the ordinary abilities of a man." 
 
THE YEAR 2Q0^— UNITED BRITAIN: 49 
 
 Hilda looked her thanks, but said no more 
 than " Your opinion does not surprise me, 
 and it tallies with my own judgment." 
 
 " Dear girl, do not try to dispute that 
 judgment. And now to affairs of much im- 
 portance. I have come from the Emperor, 
 and I see great difficulties in store for us." 
 
 Probably Hilda had never felt so grateful 
 to Mrs. Hardinge as she did now for the few 
 words in which she had expressed so much, 
 with such fine tact. An appearance of 
 sympathy or surprise would have deeply 
 wounded the girl. 
 
 " Dear mamma," she said — as sometimes 
 in private in moments of affection she was 
 used to do — "does his Highness still show 
 a disinclination to the settlement to which 
 he has almost agreed ? " 
 
 " He shows the most marked disinclination, 
 for he told me with strong emotion that he 
 felt he would be sacrificing the convictions 
 of his race." 
 
 The position of the Emperor was indeed a 
 difficult one. A young, high-spirited, gene- 
 
 4 
 
50 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 rous, and brave man, he was asked by his 
 Cabinet to take a step which in his heart 
 he abhorred. A short explanation is necessary 
 to make the case clear. When the Imperial 
 Constitution of Britain was promulgated, 
 women were beginning to acquire more power ; 
 but no one thought of suggesting that the pre- 
 ferential succession to the direct heirs male 
 should be withdrawn. 
 
 Meanwhile women advanced, and in all 
 other classes of life they gained perfect equality 
 with regard to the laws of succession and 
 other matters, but the custom still remained by 
 which the eldest daughter of the Emperor 
 A'ould be excluded in favour of the eldest 
 son. Some negotiations had proceeded con- 
 cerning the marriage of the Emperor to the 
 daughter of the lady who enjoyed the position 
 of President of the United States, an intense 
 advocate of woman's equality. She was dis- 
 posed, if not determined, to make it a con- 
 dition of the marriage that the eldest child, 
 whether son or daughter, should succeed. The 
 Emperor's Cabinet had the same view, and it 
 
THE YEAR 20m— UNITED BRITAIN. 51 
 
 was one widely held throughout the Empire. 
 But there were strong opinions on the other 
 side. The increasing number of women elected 
 by popular suffrage to all representative posi- 
 tions and the power which women invariably 
 possessed in the Cabinet aroused the jealous 
 anger of men. True, the feeling was not in 
 the ascendant, and other disabilities of women 
 were removed ; but in this particular case, the 
 last, it may be said, of women's disabilities, a 
 separate feeling had to be taken into account. 
 The ultra-Conservatives throughout the Empire, 
 including both men and women, were super- 
 stitiously tenacious of upholding the Constitu- 
 tion in its integrity and averse to its being 
 changed in the smallest particular. They felt 
 that everything important to the Empire de- 
 pended upon the irrevocable nature of the 
 Constitution, and that the . smallest change 
 might be succeeded by the most organic altera- 
 tions. The merits of the question mattered 
 nothing in their opinion in comparison with 
 the principle which they held it was a matter 
 of life and death not to disturb. 
 
52 A^^XO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 It was now proposed to introduce a Bill to 
 enable the Emperor to declare that the suc- 
 cession should be to the eldest child. The 
 Cabinet were strongly in favour of it, and to 
 a great extent their existence as a Government 
 depended on it. The Emperor was well dis- 
 posed to his present advisers, but, it was no 
 secret, was strongly averse to this one proposal. 
 The contemplated match was an affair of 
 State policy rather than of inclination. He 
 had seldom met his intended bride, and was 
 not prepossessed with her. She was good- 
 looking and a fine girl ; but she had unmis- 
 takably red hair, an adornment not to his 
 taste. Besides, she was excessively firm in 
 her opinions as to the superiority of women 
 over men ; and he strongly suspected she would 
 be for ever striving to rule not only the house- 
 hold, but the Empire. It is difficult to fathom 
 the motives of the human mind, difficult not 
 only to others, but to the persons themselves 
 concerned. The Emperor thought that his 
 opposition to placing the succession on an 
 equality between male and female was purely 
 
THE YEAR 20Q0— UNITED BRITAIN. 53 
 
 one of loyalty to his ancestors and to the tradi- 
 tions of the Empire. But who could say that he 
 did not see in a refusal to pass the necessary 
 Act a means of escaping the distasteful nuptials? 
 Mrs. Hardinge had come from a long interview 
 with him, and it was evident that she greatly 
 doubted his continued support. She resumed, 
 " His Highness seems very seriously to oppose 
 the measure, and indeed quite ready to give 
 up his intended marriage. I wonder," she 
 said, looking keenly at Hilda, " whether he has 
 seen any girl he prefers." 
 
 The utter unconsciousness with which Hilda 
 heard this veiled surmise appeared to satisfy 
 Mrs. Hardinge ; and she continued, " Tell me, 
 dear, what do you think ? " 
 
 " I am hardly in a position to judge. Does 
 the Emperor give no reasons for his oppo- 
 sition ? " 
 
 " Yes, he has plenty of reasons ; but his 
 strongest appears to be that whoever is ruler 
 of the Empire should be able to lead its armies." 
 
 "I thought," said Miss Fitzherbert, "that he 
 had some good reason." 
 
54 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 " Do you consider this a good reason ? " 
 inquired Mrs. Hardinge sharply. 
 
 " From his point of view, yes ; from ours, 
 no," said Hilda gently, but promptly. 
 
 "Then you do not think that we should 
 retreat from our position even if retreat were 
 possible ? " 
 
 "No," repHed Hilda. " Far better to leave 
 office than to make a concession of which 
 we do not approve in order to retain it." 
 
 " You are a strange girl," said Mrs. Hardinge. 
 " If I understand you rightly, you think both 
 sides are correct." 
 
 " I think that there is a great deal to be said 
 on both sides, and this is constantly the case 
 with important controversies. Between the 
 metal and the flint the spark of truth is struck. 
 I should think it no disgrace to be defeated 
 on a subject about which we could show good 
 cause. I might even come to think that better 
 cause had been shown against us after the 
 discussion was over ; but to flee the discus- 
 sion, to sacrifice conviction to expediency — that 
 would be disgraceful." 
 
THE YEAR 20QQ— UNITED BRITAIN. 55 
 
 " Then," said Mrs. Hardinge, with some 
 interest, " if the Emperor were to ask your 
 opinion, you would try to persuade him to our 
 side ? " 
 
 "Yes and no. I would urge strongly my 
 sense of the question and my opinion that it 
 is better to settle at once a controversy about 
 which there is so much difference of opinion. 
 But I should respect his views ; and if they 
 were conscientious, I should not dare to advise 
 him to sacrifice them." 
 
 An interruption unexpected by Miss Fitz- 
 herbert, but apparently not surprising to Mrs. 
 Hardinge, occurred. An aide-de-camp of 
 the Emperor entered. After bowing low to 
 the ladies, he briefly said, " His Imperial 
 Majesty desires the presence of Miss Fitz- 
 herbert." 
 
 A summons so unusual raised a flush to the 
 girl's cheek. She looked at Mrs. Hardinge. 
 
 ** I had intended to tell you," said that lady, 
 " that the Emperor mentioned he would like 
 to speak to you on the subject we have been 
 considering." Then, turning to the aide-de- 
 
.S6 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 camp, she said, " Miss Fitzherbert will im- 
 mediately wait on his Majesty." 
 
 The officer left the room. 
 
 Hilda archly turned to Mrs. Hardinge. " So, 
 dear mamma, you were preparing me for this 
 interview ? " 
 
 " Dear child," said the elder lady, " you want 
 no preparation. Whatever the consequences 
 to me, I will not ask you to put any restraint 
 on the expression of your opinions." 
 
II. 
 
 THE EMPEROR AND HILDA FITZHERBERT. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE EMPEROR AND HILDA FITZHERBERT. 
 
 THE Emperor received Miss Fitzherbert 
 with a cordial grace, infinitely pleasing 
 and flattering to that young lady. She of 
 course had often seen his Majesty at Court 
 functions, but never before had he summoned 
 her to a separate audience. And indeed, high 
 though her official position and reputation 
 were, she did not hold Cabinet rank ; and a 
 special audience was a rare compliment, such 
 as perhaps no one in her position had ever 
 previously enjoyed. 
 
 The Emperor was a tall man of spare and 
 muscular frame, with the dignity and bearing 
 of a practised soldier. It was impossible not 
 to recognise that he was possessed of immense 
 strength and power of endurance. He had 
 just celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday. 
 
6o ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 and looked no more than his age. His face 
 was of the fair Saxon type. His eyes were 
 blue, varying with his moods from almost dark 
 violet to a cold steel tint. Few persons were 
 able to disguise from him their thoughts when 
 he fixed on them his eyes, with the piercing 
 enquiry of which they were capable. His eyes 
 were indeed singularly capable of a great 
 variety of expression. He could at will make 
 them denote the thoughts and feeUngs which he 
 wished to make apparent to those with whom 
 he conversed. Apart from his position, no one 
 could look at him without feeling that he was a 
 distinguished man. He was ot a kindly dis- 
 position, but capable of great severity, especially 
 towards any one guilty of a mean or cowardly 
 action. He was of a highly honourable 
 disposition, and possessed an exalted sense of 
 duty. He rarely allowed personal inclination 
 to interfere with public engagements ; indeed, 
 he was tenaciously sensitive on the point, 
 and sometimes fancied that he permitted his 
 judgment to be obscured by his preposses- 
 sions when he had really good grounds for 
 
THE EMPEROR AND HILDA. 6i 
 
 his conclusions. On the very subject of his 
 marriage he was constantly filled with doubt 
 as to whether his objection to the proposed 
 alteration in the law of succession was well 
 founded on public grounds or whether he was 
 unconsciously influenced by his personal dis- 
 inclination to the contemplated union. He 
 realised the truth of the saying of a very old 
 author — 
 
 " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." 
 
 After indicating to Miss Fitzherbert his wish 
 that she should be seated, he said to her, " I 
 have been induced to ask your attendance by 
 a long conversation I have had with Mrs. 
 Hardinge. I have heard the opinions she has 
 formed, and they seem to me the result of 
 matured experience. It occurred to me that 
 I would like to hear the opinions of one who, 
 possessed of no less ability, has been less 
 subject to official and diplomatic exigencies. 
 I may gather from you how much of personal 
 feeling should be allowed to influence State 
 affairs." 
 
62 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 " Your Majesty is very gracious," faltered 
 Hilda, " but Mrs. Hardinge has already told you 
 the opinion of the Cabinet. Even if I differed 
 from it, which I do not, I could not venture to 
 obtrude my view on your Majesty." 
 
 " Yes, you could," said the Emperor, " if I 
 asked you, or let me say commanded you." 
 
 "Sir, your wishes are commands. I do not 
 pretend to have deeply studied the matter. I 
 think the time has come to finally settle a 
 long-mooted question and to withdraw from 
 woman the last disability under which she 
 labours." 
 
 " My objection," interposed the Emperor, 
 " or hesitation is in no manner caused by any 
 doubt as to woman's deserving to be on a par 
 with man in every intellectual position." 
 
 " Then, Sir, may I ask, why do you hesitate ? 
 The greatest Sovereign that ever reigned over 
 Great Britain, as it was formerly called, was a 
 woman." 
 
 "I cordially agree with you. No Sovereign 
 ever deserved better of the subjects of the 
 realm than my venerated ancestress Queen 
 
THE EMPEROR AND HILDA. 63 
 
 Victoria. But again I say, I do not question 
 woman's ability to occupy the throne to the 
 greatest advantage." 
 
 " Why, may I ask, then does your Majesty 
 hesitate ? " 
 
 " I can scarcely reply to my own satisfac- 
 tion. I give great heed to the objections 
 commonly stated against altering the Constitu- 
 tion, but I do not feel certain that these alone 
 guide me. There is another, and to me very 
 important, reason. It appeals to me not as 
 Sovereign only, but as soldier. My father 
 and my grandfather led the troops of the 
 Empire when they went forth to battle. 
 Happily in our day war is a remote contingency, 
 but it is not impossible. We preserve peace 
 by being prepared for war. It seems to me a 
 terrible responsibility to submit to a change 
 which might result in the event of war in the 
 army not being led by its emperor." 
 
 "Your Majesty," said Miss Fitzherbert, 
 " what am I to say ? To deny the cogency of 
 your reasons is like seeking to retain power, 
 for you know the fate of the Cabinet depends 
 
64 AA^A-O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 upon this measure, to which it has pledged 
 itself." 
 
 " Miss Fitzherbert," said the Emperor 
 gravely, "no one will suspect you of seeking 
 to retain office for selfish purposes, and least 
 of 2l\\ would I suppose it, or I would not ask 
 your counsel. Tell me now," he said, with a 
 winning look, " as woman to man, not as 
 subject to Sovereign, what does your heart 
 dictate ? " 
 
 "Sir," said Miss Fitzherbert with great 
 dignity, rising from her seat, " I am deeply 
 sensible of the honour you do me ; and I cannot 
 excuse myself from responding to it. In the 
 affairs of Hfe, and more especially State affairs, 
 I have noticed that both sides to a controversy 
 have frequently good grounds for their advo- 
 cacy ; and, moreover, it often happens that 
 previous association fastens on each side the 
 views it holds. I am strong in the belief, 
 we are right in wishing this measure to pass ; 
 but since you insist on my opinion, I can- 
 not avoid declaring as far as I, a non-militant 
 woman, can judge, that, were I in your place, 
 
THE EMPEROR AND HILDA. 65 
 
 I would hold the sentiment you express and 
 refuse my sanction." 
 
 Hilda spoke with great fervour, as one 
 inspired. The Emperor scarcely concealed his 
 admiration ; but he merely bowed courteously, 
 and ended the interview with the words, " I 
 am greatly indebted to you for your frankness 
 and candour." 
 
III. 
 
 LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 
 
 A S Miss Fitzherbert returned to her room, 
 ^ *■ she did not know whether to feel angry 
 or pleased with herself. She was conscious 
 she had not served the interest of her party 
 or of herself, but she realised that she was 
 placed in a situation in which candour was 
 demanded of her, and it seemed to her that 
 the Emperor was the embodiment of all that 
 was gracious and noble in man. 
 
 Her secretary informed her that Lord Regi- 
 nald Paramatta was waiting to see her by 
 appointment. 
 
 Lord Reginald was a man of noticeable 
 presence. Above the ordinary height, he 
 seemed yet taller because of the extreme thin- 
 ness of his frame. Yet he by no means 
 wore an appearance of delicacy. On the con- 
 trary, he was exceedingly muscular ; and his 
 
70 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 bearing was erect and soldierlike. He was 
 well known as a brilliant ofificer, who had 
 deeply studied his profession. But he was not 
 only known as a soldier : he held a high 
 political position. He had for many years 
 continued to represent an Australian con- 
 stituenc}^ in the Federal Parliament. His 
 naturally dark complexion was further bronzed 
 by exposure to the sun. His features were 
 good and strikingly like those of his sister, the 
 Countess of iVIiddlesex. He had also the same 
 sinister expression. The Paramattas were a 
 very old New South Wales family. They 
 were originally sheep-farmers, or squatters 
 as they used to be called. They owned large 
 estates in New South Wales and nearly half 
 of a thriving city. The first lord was called 
 to the peerage in 1930, in recognition of the 
 immense sums that he had devoted to philan- 
 thropic and educational purposes. Lord Regi- 
 nald was the second son of the third and 
 brother of the fourth peer. He inherited from 
 his mother a large estate in the interior of New 
 South Wales. 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 71 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert greeted Lord Reginald with 
 marked coolness. "Your sister," she said, 
 " told me you were kind enough to desire to 
 wish me farewell before you left to take the 
 London command, upon which allow me to 
 congratulate you." 
 
 " Thanks !" briefly replied his Lordship. " An 
 appointment that places me so far from you 
 is not to my mind a subject of congratulation." 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert drew herself up, and with 
 warmth remarked, " I am surprised that you 
 should say this to me." 
 
 "You ought not to be surprised," replied 
 Lord Reginald. " My sister told you of my 
 feelings towards you, if indeed I have not 
 already sufficiently betrayed them." 
 
 "Your sister must have also told you what 
 I said in reply. Pray, my lord, do not inflict 
 on both of us unnecessary pain." 
 
 " Do not mistake my passion for a transitory 
 one. Miss Fitzherbert, Hilda, my life is bound 
 up in yours. It depends on you to send me 
 forth the most happy or the most miserable of 
 men." 
 
72 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 ** Your happiness would not last. I am 
 convinced we are utterly unsuited to each 
 other. My answer is ' No ' in both our in- 
 terests." 
 
 " Do not say so finally. Take time. Tell 
 me I may ask you again after the lapse of 
 some few months." 
 
 "To tell you so would be to deceive. My 
 answer can never change." 
 
 " You love some one else, then ? " 
 
 "The question, my lord, is not fair nor 
 seemly, nor have you the right to put it. 
 Nevertheless I will say there is no foundation 
 for your surmise." 
 
 " Then why finally reject me ? Give me 
 time to prove to you how thoroughly I am in 
 earnest." 
 
 " I have not said I doubted it. But no lapse 
 of years can alter the determination 1 have 
 come to. I hope, Lord Reginald, that you will 
 be happy, and that amidst the distractions of 
 London you will soon forget me." 
 
 " That would be impossible, but it will not 
 be put to the test. I shall not go to London. 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. -]}, 
 
 I believe it is your wish that we should be 
 separated." 
 
 " I have no wish on the subject. There is 
 nothing more to be said," replied Hilda, with 
 extreme coldness. 
 
 " Yes, there is. Do not think that I abandon 
 my hope. I will remain near you. I will not 
 let you forget me. I leave you in the con- 
 viction that some day you will give me a 
 different answer. When the world is less 
 kind to you than hitherto, you may learn to 
 value the love of one devoted being. There 
 is no good-bye between us." 
 
 Hilda suppressed the intense annoyance that 
 both his words and manner occasioned. She 
 merely remarked, with supreme hauteur, " You 
 will at least be good enough to rid me of your 
 presence here." 
 
 Her coldness seemed to excite the fury of 
 Lord Reginald beyond the point of control. 
 " As I live, you shall repent this in the future," 
 he muttered in audible accents. 
 
 Shortly afterwards a letter from Lord 
 Reginald was laid before the Premier. He was 
 
74 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 gratified, he wrote, for the consideration the 
 official appointment displayed ; but he could 
 not accept it : his parliamentary duties forbade 
 his doing so. If, he continued, it was con- 
 sidered that his duty as an officer demanded 
 his accepting the offer, he would send in his 
 papers and retire from the service, though of 
 course he would retain his position in the 
 Volunteer force unless the Emperor wished 
 otherwise. 
 
 It should be explained that the Volunteer 
 force was of at least equal importance to the 
 regular service. Officers had precedence inter- 
 changeably according to seniority. Long since 
 the absurdity had been recognised of placing 
 the Volunteer force on a lower footing than the 
 paid forces. Regular officers eagerly sought 
 to be elected to commands in Volunteer regi- 
 ments, and the colonel of a Volunteer regiment 
 enjoyed fully as much consideration in every 
 respect as the colonel of any of the paid 
 regiments. The duty of defending all parts 
 of the Empire from invasion was specially 
 assigned to volunteers. The Volunteer force 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 75 
 
 throughout the Empire numbered at least two 
 million, besides which there was a Volunteer 
 reserve force of three quarters of a million, 
 which comprised the best men selected from 
 the volunteers. The vacancies were filled up 
 each year by fresh selections to make up the 
 full number. The Volunteer reserve force 
 could be mobilised at short notice, and was 
 available for service anywhere. Its members 
 enjoyed many prized social distinctions. The 
 regular force of the Empire was comparatively 
 small. In order to understand the availability 
 of the Volunteer reserve force, regard must be 
 had to the immense improvement in education. 
 No child attained man or woman's estate with- 
 out a large theoretical and practical knowledge 
 of scientific laws and their ordinary application. 
 For example, few adults were so ignorant as 
 not to understand the modes by which motive 
 power of various descriptions was obtained and 
 the principles on which the working depended 
 — each person was more or less an engineer. 
 A hundred 3'ears since, education was deemed 
 to be the mastering of a little knowledge about 
 
-jb ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 a great variety of subjects. Thoroughness was 
 scarcely regarded, and the superficial apology 
 for preferring quantity to quality was " Educa- 
 tion does not so much mean imparting knowledge 
 as training the faculties to acquire it." This 
 plausible plea afforded the excuse for wasting 
 the first twenty years of life of both sexes in 
 desultory efforts to acquire a mastery over the 
 dead languages. " It is a good training to the 
 mind and a useful means of learning the living 
 languages " was in brief the defence for the 
 shocking waste of time. 
 
 Early in the last century it fell to the lot of 
 the then Prince of Wales, great-grandfather to 
 the present Emperor, to prick this educational 
 bladder. He stoutly declared that his sons 
 should learn neither Latin nor Greek. " Why," 
 he said, " should we learn ancient Italian any 
 more than the Italians should learn the dialects 
 of the ancient Britons ? " 
 
 " There is a Greek and Latin literature," 
 was the reply, " but no literature of ancient 
 Britain." 
 
 "Yes," replied the Prince, "there is a litera- 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA, jj 
 
 ture ; but does our means of learning the dead 
 languages enable two persons in ten thousand 
 after years of study to take up promiscuously a 
 Latin or Greek book and read it with ease and 
 comfort ? They spend much more time in 
 learning Latin and Greek than their own 
 language, but who ever buys a Latin or Greek 
 book to read when he is travelling ? " 
 
 " But a knowledge of Latin is so useful in 
 acquiring living languages." 
 
 " Fudge ! " said this unceremonious prince, 
 who, by the way, was more than an average 
 classical scholar. " If I want to go to Liverpool, 
 I do not proceed there by way of New York. 
 I will back a boy to learn how to speak and 
 read with interest three European languages 
 before he shall be able, even with the aid of a 
 dictionary, to laboriously master the meaning 
 of a Latin book he has not before studied." 
 He continued, " Do you think one person out 
 of fifty thousand who have learnt Greek is so 
 truly imbued with the spirit of the Iliad as 
 are those whose only acquaintance with it is 
 through the translations of Derby, Gladstone, 
 
78 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 or even Pope ? It is partly snobbishness, 
 he proceeded, with increased warmth. "The 
 fact is, it is expensive and wasteful to learn 
 Greek and Latin ; and so the rich use the 
 acquirement as another means of walling up 
 class against class. At any rate, I will destroy 
 the fashion ; and so that there shall be no loss 
 of learning, I will have every Greek and Latin 
 work not yet translated that can be read with 
 advantage by decent and modest people rendered 
 into the English language, if it cost me a 
 hundred thousand pounds : and then there will 
 be no longer an excuse for the waste of millions 
 on dead languages, to say nothing of the loss 
 occasioned by the want of education in other 
 subjects that is consequent on the prominence 
 given to the so-called classical attainments." 
 
 The Prince was equal to his word. Science 
 and art, mathematical and technical acquire- 
 ments, took the place of the classics ; and 
 people became really well informed. Living 
 languages, it was found, could be easily learnt 
 in a few months by personal intercourse with 
 a tluent speaker. 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 79 
 
 This digression has been necessary to explain 
 how it was that the volunteers were capable of 
 acquiring all the scientific knowledge necessary 
 to the ranks of a force trained to the highest 
 military duties. As to the officers, the position 
 was sufficiently coveted to induce competitors 
 for command in Volunteer regiments to study 
 the most advanced branches of the profession. 
 
 It will be understood Lord Reginald, while 
 offering to retire from the regular service, but 
 intending to retain his Volunteer command, 
 really made no military sacrifice, whilst he 
 took up a high ground embarrassing to the 
 authorities. He forced them either to accept 
 his refusal of the London command, and be 
 a party to the breach of discipline involved in 
 a soldier declining to render service wherever 
 it was demanded, or to require his retirement 
 from the regular service, with the certainty of 
 all kinds of questions being asked and surmises 
 made. 
 
 It was no doubt unusual to offer him such 
 a splendid command without ascertaining that 
 he was ready to accept it, and there was a 
 
8o ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 great risk of Miss Fitzherbert's name being 
 brought up in an unpleasant manner. Women 
 lived in the full light of day, and several 
 journals were in the habit of declaring that 
 the likes and dislikes of women were allowed 
 far too much influence. What an opportunity 
 would be afforded to them if they could hang 
 ever so slightly Lord Reginald's retirement 
 on some affair of the heart connected with 
 that much-envied young statesman Miss Fitz- 
 herbert ! 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge rapidly realised all the 
 features of the case. " He means mischief, this 
 man," she said; "but he shall not hurt Hilda 
 if I can help it." Then she minuted " Write 
 Lord Reginald that I regret he is unable to 
 accept an appointment which I thought would 
 give him pleasure, and which he is so qualified 
 to adorn." She laughed over this sentence. 
 " He will understand its irony," she thought, 
 " and smart under it." She continued, " Add 
 that I see no reason for his retirement from the 
 regular service. It was through accident he 
 was not consulted before the offer was officially 
 
LORD REGINALD PARAMATTA. 8i 
 
 made. I should be sorry to deprive the 
 Empire of his brilhant services. Mark ' Con- 
 fidential.'" Then she thought to herself, 
 " This is the best way out of it. He has gained 
 to a certain extent a triumph, but he cannot 
 make capital out of it." 
 
IV. 
 
 A PARTIAL VICTORY. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PARTIAL VICTORY 
 
 PARLIAMENT was about to meet, and the 
 •'' Emperor was to open it with a speech 
 delivered by himself. Much difference of 
 opinion existed as to whether reference should 
 be made to the question of altering the nature 
 of the succession. The Emperor desired that 
 all reference to it should be omitted. He 
 told Mrs. Hardinge frankly he had decided 
 not to agree to an alteration, but he said his 
 greatest pain in refusing was the consciousness 
 that it might deprive him of his present 
 advisers. If the recommendation were formally 
 niade, he should be compelled to say that he 
 would not concur until he had recourse to 
 other advisers. He wished her not to impose 
 on him such a necessity. 
 
 "But," said Mrs. Hardinge, "your Majesty 
 
86 AiVJVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 is asking us to hold office at the expense of 
 our opinions." 
 
 " Not so," replied his Majesty. " All pressing 
 need of dealing with the question is over. I 
 have resolved to break off the negotiations with 
 the President of the United States for her 
 daughter's hand. I do not think the union 
 would be happy for either, and I take exception 
 to the strong terms in which the President 
 has urged a change in the succession of our 
 imperial line. You see that the question is no 
 longer an urgent one." 
 
 " I hardly know to which direction our duty 
 points," Mrs. Hardinge said. " We think the 
 question urgent whether or not your Majesty 
 marries at once." 
 
 " Pray do not take that view. There is another 
 reason. I have determined, as I have said, not 
 to accept such advice without summoning other 
 advisers. In adopting this step, 1 am strictly 
 within my constitutional rights ; and I do not 
 say, if a new Cabinet also recommends an 
 alteration in the law of succession I will refuse 
 to accept the advice. I will never voluntarily 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 87 
 
 decline to recognise the constitutional rights 
 which I have sworn to uphold. So it might 
 be that a change of Cabinet would not alter the 
 result, and then it would be held that I had 
 strained my constitutional power in making 
 the change. I do not wish to appear in this 
 or any other question to hold individual 
 opinions. Frankly I will tell you that I doubt 
 if you have the strength to carry your proposed 
 change even if I permitted you to submit it. 
 If I am correct in my conjecture, the question 
 will be forced on you from the other side ; and 
 you will be defeated on it. In that case I 
 shall not have interfered ; and, as I have said, I 
 prefer not to do so. So you see, Mrs. Hardinge, 
 that I am selfish in wishing you to hold back 
 the question. It is in my own interest that 
 I do so, and you may dismiss all feeling of 
 compunction." 
 
 " Your Majesty has graciously satisfied me 
 that I may do as you suggest without feeling 
 that I am actuated by undue desire to continue 
 in office. I agree with your Majesty the parlia- 
 mentary result is doubtful. It greatly depends 
 
88 ANNO DOM TNI 200n. 
 
 on the line taken by Lord Reginald Paramatta 
 and the forty or fifty members who habitually 
 follow him." 
 
 The Emperor's speech was received with 
 profound respect. But as soon as he left the 
 council-chamber a murmur of astonishment 
 ran round. It was generally anticipated that 
 the announcement of the royal marriage would 
 be made. 
 
 The Federal Chamber was of magnificent 
 dimensions. It accommodated with comfort 
 the seven hundred and fifty members and one 
 thousand persons besides. The Chamber was 
 of circular shape. A line across the centre 
 divided the portion devoted to the members 
 from that occupied by the audience. The 
 latter were seated tier on tier, but not crowded. 
 The members had each a comfortable chair 
 and a little desk in front, on which he could 
 either write or by the hand telegraph com- 
 municate telegrams to his friends outside for 
 retransmission if he desired it. He could 
 receive messages also, and in neither case 
 was the least noise made by the instrument. 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 89 
 
 The council-chamber possessed astonishing 
 acoustic powers. Vast as were its dimen- 
 sions, a comparatively feeble voice could be 
 clearly heard at the remotest distance. As 
 soon as some routine business was concluded 
 the leader of the Opposition, a lady of 
 great reputation for statesmanship, rose, and, 
 partly by way of interrogation, expressed 
 surprise that no intimation had been made 
 respecting the future happiness of the reigning 
 family. This was about as near a reference to 
 the person of the Sovereign as the rules of 
 the House permitted. Mrs. Hardinge curtly 
 replied that she had no intimation to make, 
 a reply which was received with a general 
 murmur of amazement. The House seemed to 
 be on the point of proceeding to the ordinary 
 business, when Lord Reginald Paramatta rose 
 and said " he ventured to ask, as no reference 
 was made to the subject in the speech, what 
 were the intentions of the Government on the 
 question of altering the law of succession of 
 the imperial family." 
 
 This interruption was received with much 
 
go ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 surprise. Lord Reginald had long been a 
 member possessed of great influence. He had 
 a considerable following, numbering perhaps 
 not less than fifty. His rule of conduct hitherto 
 had been to deprecate party warfare. He 
 tried to hold the balance, and neither side 
 had yet been able to number him and his 
 following as partisans. That he should lead 
 the way to an attack of an extreme party cha- 
 racter seemed most astonishing. The few 
 words that he had uttered were rapidly trans- 
 lated into meaning that he intended to throw 
 in his lot with the Opposition. Mrs. Hardinge, 
 however, appeared to feel no concern as she 
 quietly replied that she was not aware that 
 the question pressed for treatment. " I am 
 afraid," said Lord Reginald, " that I am unable 
 to agree with this opinion ; and it is my duty to 
 test the feelings of the House on the subject." 
 Then he read to the intently listening members 
 a resolution of which he gave notice that it 
 was desirable, in order that no uncertainty 
 should exist on the subject, to record the 
 opinion of the House that the law of succes- 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 91 
 
 sion should not be altered. Loud cheers 
 followed the announcement ; and the leader 
 of the Opposition, who was equally taken by 
 surprise, congratulated Lord Reginald, with 
 some little irony, on the decided position he 
 had at last assumed. Mrs. Hardinge, without 
 any trace of emotion or anxiety, rose amidst 
 the cheers of her side of the House. The 
 noble and gallant member, she said, had given 
 notice of a resolution which the Government 
 would consider challenged its position. It 
 would be better to take it before proceeding 
 to other business, and if, as she expected, the 
 reply to the Imperial speech would not occasion 
 discussion, to-morrow could be devoted to it. 
 Lord Reginald replied to-morrow would suit 
 him, and the sitting soon came to an end. 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge could not but feel surprise at 
 the accuracy of the Emperor's anticipation. 
 She was sure he was not aware of Lord 
 Reginald's intention, and she knew that the 
 latter was acting in revenge for the slight he 
 had received at the hands of Hilda Fitzherbert. 
 She felt that the prospect of the motion being 
 
92 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 carried was largely increased through Lord 
 Reginald having so cleverly appropriated it to 
 himself. But it was equally evident from 
 the cordiality with which the proposal was 
 received that, if Lord Reginald had not 
 brought it on, some one else would. She 
 saw also that the Countess of Cairo (the leader 
 of the Opposition) had rapidly decided to sup- 
 port Lord Reginald, though she might have 
 reasonably objected to his appropriating the 
 subject. " He is clever," Mrs. Hardinge re- 
 flected. " He accurately gauged Lady Cairo's 
 action. What a pity neither Hilda nor I can 
 trust him ! He is as bad in disposition as 
 he is able in mind." 
 
 The next day, after the routine business was 
 disposed of. Lord Reginald's resolution was 
 called on. That it excited immense interest 
 the crowded state of the hall in every part 
 attested. Two of the Emperor's aides-de-camp 
 were there, each with a noiseless telegraph 
 apparatus in front of him to wire alter- 
 nately the progress of the debate. Reporters 
 were similarly communicating with the Argus, 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 93 
 
 Age, and Telegraph in Melbourne, and with 
 the principal papers in Sydney, Brisbane, 
 Adelaide, and New Zealand. 
 • Lord Reginald rose amidst loud cheers from 
 the Opposition side of the House. He made a 
 temperate but exceedingly able speech. He 
 would explain before he concluded why he had 
 taken the lead in bringing the question on. 
 Hitherto he had not sought to take a pro- 
 minent place in politics. He was a soldier 
 by profession, and he would infinitely prefer 
 distinguishing himself as a soldier than as 
 a politician; and, as he would show, it was 
 as a soldier that he came forward. He 
 disclaimed any hostility to the equality of the 
 sexes or any objection to the increasing 
 power in public affairs to which women were 
 attaining. He fully recognised that the 
 immense progress of the world during the 
 last hundred years was largely due to the 
 intellectual advancement of women. He equally 
 rejected the idea that women were unfitted to 
 rule over a constitutionally governed empire. 
 Then he dwelt at great length on the 
 
94 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 inexpediency of permitting the Constitution to 
 be altered in any one particular, and this part 
 of his speech was warmly cheered b}' a con- 
 siderable section on each side of the Chamber. 
 The effect of these remarks was, however, 
 marred as far as the Government part}' were 
 concerned by a sneering reference to their 
 disposition to changes of all kinds; and he 
 attempted a feeble joke by insinuating that the 
 most desirable change of all might be a change 
 of government. 
 
 Then he came to his main argument and 
 explained that it was this consideration which 
 had impelled him to take up the question. He 
 was, as he had said, a soldier ; but he was not 
 one who overlooked the misery caused by war. 
 He did not long for war, nor did he think that 
 war was a probable contingency ; but he felt 
 that the British Empire should always be 
 ready for war as the best means of avoiding 
 it, and as a soldier he believed no greatei 
 prestige could be given to the forces of their 
 vast dominions than the knowledge that the 
 Emperor was ready to lead them in person. 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 95 
 
 " I would not," he said, "exclude the female 
 line ; but I would not give it larger probabilities 
 of succession than it enjoys at present. Again, 
 as a soldier I declare that the interests of the 
 Empire forbid our doing anything to limit 
 the presence at the head of his forces of the 
 ruler of the Empire." 
 
 Lord Reginald sat down amidst cheers. He 
 had been listened to with profound attention, 
 and parts of his speech were warmly ap- 
 plauded. Still, on the whole, the speech was 
 not a success. Every one felt that there was 
 something wanting. The speaker seemed to be 
 deficient in sincerity. The impression left was 
 that he had some object in view. The malign 
 air with which the little joke was uttered about 
 a change of government was most repelling. 
 It came with singularly bad grace from one 
 who tried to make out that he was unwillingly 
 forced into opposition to a Government with 
 which he had been friendly. 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge rose amidst loud and con- 
 tinuous cheers. She combated each argument 
 of the last speaker. She admitted her great 
 
96 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 disinclination to change the Constitution, but, 
 she asked, was reverence for the Constitution 
 promoted by upholding it on the ground not 
 of its merits, but of the inexpediency of varying 
 it ? She freely admitted that her feelings were 
 in favour of changing the laws of succession, 
 but she had not brought forward any proposal 
 to that effect, nor, as an advocate of a change, 
 did she see any immediate or early need of 
 bringing down proposals. Was it a good 
 precedent to make great Ministerial changes 
 depend on resolutions affecting not questions 
 before the House, not proposals made by the 
 Government, but sentiments or opinions they 
 were supposed to entertain ? This was a great 
 change in parliamentary procedure, a larger 
 one than those changes which the noble lord 
 had sneeringly credited her with advocating. 
 Then she gave Lord Reginald a very un- 
 pleasant quarter of an hour. She pictured 
 him as head of the Government in conse- 
 quence of carrying his resolution ; she selected 
 certain unpopular sentiments which he was 
 known to entertain, and, amidst great laughter, 
 
A PARTIAL VICTORY. 97 
 
 travestied Lord Reginald's defence of his fads 
 in response to resolutions of the same kind as 
 they were now discussing. She grew eloquent 
 even to inspiration in describing the abilities 
 of the female Sovereigns of the past. And as 
 to the soldier's point of view she asked did 
 not history tell them that the arms of the 
 country had been as successful under female 
 as under male rulers ? The noble lord, she 
 said, amidst roars of laughter, had intended to 
 come forward as a soldier ; but, for her part, 
 she thought he had posed as a courtier, and 
 sarcastically she hinted that he was as able 
 in one capacity as the other. " He is sad, 
 sir," she continued, " over the possibility that 
 any one but the Emperor should lead the forces; 
 but if all that is said as to the noble lord's 
 ambition be correct, he would prefer leading 
 the troops himself to following the lead of the 
 most exalted commander." She concluded 
 with an eloquent appeal to her own party. 
 She did not deny the opinions of her colleagues 
 and herself, but asked was it wise to allow 
 a great party to be broken up by a theoretical 
 
 7 
 
98 A2V2VO DOMINI 20U0. 
 
 discussion upon a subject not yet before the 
 country, and which for a long while might 
 not come before it ? Mrs. Hardinge's speech 
 was received most enthusiastically, and at its 
 conclusion it was clear that she had saved her 
 party from breaking up. Not a vote would be 
 lost to it. The result merely depended on 
 what addition Lord Reginald's own following 
 could bring to the usual strength of the Oppo- 
 sition. After some more debating a division 
 ensued, and the resolution was lost by two 
 votes only. Both sides cheered, but there was 
 breathless silence when Mrs. Hardinge rose. 
 She made no reference to the debate beyond 
 the very significant one of asking that the 
 House should adjourn for a week. 
 
V. 
 
 CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
 ]\ /r RS. HARDINGE tendered the resigna- 
 ^^ ^ tion of the Government to the Emperor, 
 who at once sent for Lady Cairo, the leader of 
 the Opposition. He asked her to form an ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 "Your Majesty," she said, "knows that, 
 though I am in opposition to the present 
 Premier, I greatly admire both her ability and 
 honesty of purpose. 1 am not at all satisfied 
 that she is called on to resign, or that the 
 small majority she had on the late resolution 
 indicates that she has not a large following on 
 other questions." 
 
 "I hold," said the Emperor, "the balance 
 evenly between the great parties of the State ; 
 and I respect the functions of the Oppo- 
 sition no less than those of the Government. 
 
102 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 It is the opinion of my present advisers 
 that a strong administration is necessary, and 
 that, after such a division as that of the 
 other night, the Opposition should have the 
 opportunity offered to them of forming a 
 Government." 
 
 " I respect," repHed Lady Cairo, " Mrs. 
 Hardinge's action, and under hice circumstances 
 would have pursued a like course. But though 
 Mrs. Hardinge is right in offering us the 
 opportunity, it does not follow that we should 
 be wise in accepting it." 
 
 " You are of that," replied the Emperor, " of 
 course the best judge. But I should not like so 
 grave a step as the one which Mrs. Hardinge 
 has felt it her duty to take to be construed 
 into a formality for effacing the effect of a vote 
 of the House. I am averse," said the wise 
 ruler, " to anything which might even remotely 
 make me appear as the medium of, or interferer 
 with, parliamentary action. I esteem Mrs. 
 Hardinge, and I esteem you, Lady Cairo ; but 
 if the resignation now tendered to me went 
 no further than at present, it might justly 
 
CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 103 
 
 be surmised that I had permitted myself 
 to be the means of strengthening what Mrs. 
 Hardinge considered an insufficient parHa- 
 mentary confidence. I therefore ask you not 
 to give me a hasty answer, but to consuh 
 your friends and endeavour to form a strong 
 Government." 
 
 No more could be said. Lady Cairo, with 
 becoming reverence, signified her submission 
 to the Emperor's wishes. She summoned her 
 chief friends and colleagues, and had many 
 earnest conferences with them separately and 
 collectively. It was readily admitted that, if 
 they formed a Government, there was a consi- 
 derable number of members who, though not 
 their supporters, would protect them in a fair 
 trial. It was indeed certain that Mrs. Har- 
 dinge would be too generous to indulge in 
 factious opposition, and that, if they avoided 
 any notoriously controversial measure, she 
 would herself help them to get through the 
 session. But Lady Cairo was a large-minded 
 statesman. She loved power, but, because she 
 loved it, was averse to exercising it on sufferance. 
 
104 AA^iVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 She could not but be sensible such would be 
 her position, and that she would have to 
 trust less to the strength of her own party 
 than to the forbearance of her opponents. 
 Besides, there was a point about which a great 
 difference of opinion existed. She could not 
 attempt to form a Government unless in com- 
 bination with Lord Reginald, who moved the 
 resolution. The animosity he had displayed to 
 the Government made it probable, almost cer- 
 tain, that he would do what he could to aid her ; 
 it might even be expected that he would induce 
 all or nearly all of his followers to come over 
 to her ; but again and again she asked herself 
 the question would such an alliance be agree- 
 able to her ? Joint action during an animated 
 debate was widely different from the continued 
 intimacy of official comradeship. She liked 
 Lord Reginald no better than other persons 
 liked him. She had very clear perceptions, 
 and was of a high and honourable nature. 
 Lord Reginald inspired her with distrust. It 
 was his misfortune to awaken that feeling in 
 the minds of those persons with whom he came 
 
CA BINET NEG O TIA TIONS. 1 05 
 
 into contact. Her most trusted colleagues 
 were generally of the same opinion, though 
 several prominent members of the party thought 
 it a mistake not to accept the opportunity and 
 test its chances. 
 
 Her intimate friends expressed their opinion 
 with diffidence. They would not accept the 
 responsibility of dissuading her from taking 
 office. They knew that it was a high position 
 and one to which individually she would do 
 justice, and they knew also that many contin- 
 gencies might convert a Government weak at 
 the outset into a strong one. But she could 
 read between the lines, the more especially 
 that she shared the distrust at which they 
 hinted. Two of the colleagues she most 
 valued went so far as to leave her to under- 
 stand that they would not join her Government, 
 though of course they would support it. They 
 excused themselves on private grounds ; but she 
 was shrewd enough to see these were the 
 ostensible, not the real, reasons. Lady Cairo 
 was not one of those persons who hal^itnally 
 try to persuade themselves to what their 
 
io6 AJ^jVO DOMINI -iOOU. 
 
 inclinations lead. What she had said to the 
 Emperor satisfied the most fastidious loyalty. 
 She was perfectly free to take office. No 
 one could question either her action or her 
 motive. She need not fear the world's opinion 
 if she consulted her own inclination, and 
 nineteen out of twenty persons would have 
 been satisfied. She was not; she still saw 
 before her the necessit}' of acting with one 
 colleague at least, Lord Reginald, who would 
 be distasteful to her : and as a strong party 
 statesman, she was not well disposed generally 
 to the bulk of his followers, whose inclination 
 led them to endeavour to hold the balance 
 of power between contending parties. She 
 determined on consulting her aged mother, 
 now a confirmed invalid, but once a brilliant 
 and powerful statesman, noted for her high 
 sense of honour. 
 
 " My dear," said this helpless lady when she 
 had heard all her daughter had to tell her, " no 
 one but yourself can measure the strength or 
 the justice of the distaste 3'ou feel for the 
 alliance you must make if you accept the 
 
CA BINET NEGOTIA TIONS. 1 07 
 
 splendid responsibilities offered to you. But 
 the distaste exists, and it is not likely to become 
 less. I doubt if you are justified in disregarding 
 it. Your time will come, my dear ; and it will 
 be a pleasure to you to think that you have not 
 sought it at the expense of a personal sacrifice 
 of doubts, that would not exist if all grounds 
 for them were wanting. You must decide. I 
 will go no further than to say this, I cannot 
 persuade you to allow your inclination for 
 office to overrule your disinclination to a 
 powerful section of those who must share your 
 responsibilities. It is sadly often the case 
 that the instinct to sacrifice inclination is more 
 reliable than the disposition to follow it." 
 
 Three days after their last interview the 
 Emperor again received Lady Cairo. 
 
 "Your Majesty, I have to decline, with great 
 respect and much gratitude for the confidence 
 you reposed in me, the task of forming a 
 Government with which you graciously charged 
 me." 
 
 " Is this your deliberate decision ? I am told 
 that you would have no difficulty in carr3ing 
 
io8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 on the business of the session if Lord 
 Reginald and his party supported you.' 
 
 "That is a contingency, Sir, on which I could 
 not count." 
 
 " How ! He has not promised to support 
 you?" 
 
 " I have not asked him. Our chance pre- 
 sence in the same division lobby did not appear 
 to me a sufficient basis of agreement." 
 
 "Then," said the Emperor, "the mover of 
 the resolution that has occasioned so much 
 trouble has not been consulted ? " 
 
 " It is so, your Majesty, as far as I am 
 concerned. I did not understand that you 
 made coalition with him a condition of my 
 attempt to form a Government. I hope, Sir, 
 you acquit me of having disregarded your 
 wishes." 
 
 " I do. Lady Cairo. I made no conditions, 
 nor was I entitled to do so. I left you quite 
 free. Only it seemed to me you must act with 
 the support of Lord Reginald and his following, 
 and that therefore you would necessarily 
 consult him." 
 
CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 109 
 
 " 1 would not say anything in disparagement 
 of Lord Reginald ; but may it not be that my 
 party do not think there has been such habitual 
 agreement with him as to warrant our assuming 
 that a coalition would be for the public interest, 
 to say nothing of our own comfort ? " 
 
 "I see," muttered the Emperor in barely 
 audible voice, "always the same distrust of 
 this man, able and brave though he be." Then 
 aloud, " Lady Cairo, what am I to do ? Should 
 I send for Lord Reginald and ask him to 
 attempt to form a Government ? " 
 
 " I implore your Majesty not to ask me for 
 advice. Mrs. Hardinge is still in power. May 
 I," she said in a tone of pathetic entreaty, 
 "utter half a dozen words not officially, but 
 confidentially ? " 
 
 " Certainly you have my permission." 
 
 " Then, Sir, you will understand me when I 
 say that personal opinions, confidence, trust, 
 and liking may have So much to do with 
 the matter that it will be graciously kind of 
 your Majesty to allow me to state only this 
 much in my place in the House : that, after 
 
no ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 considering the charge you entrusted to me, I 
 felt compelled to refuse it, not believing that I 
 could form a Government which would enjoy 
 the confidence of a majority of the House." 
 
 " Let it be so," said the Emperor good- 
 humouredly. "That may be your version. I 
 must not put my troubles upon you." 
 
 " Your Majesty is most good, most kind. I 
 can never be sufficiently grateful." 
 
 The Emperor had gained one more devoted 
 admirer. Few who came into personal contact 
 with him failed to be fascinated by his 
 wonderful sympathy and grace. All human 
 character appeared an open book to his 
 discernment. 
 
 He sent for Mrs. Hardinge. " I fear," he 
 said, "you will not be pleased at what I am 
 about to say. Lady Cairo has declined to 
 form a Government. I may have to refuse to 
 accept your resignation, or rather to ask 
 you to withdraw it. First, however, I wish 
 your advice ; but before I formally seek it 
 tell me would it be distasteful to you to 
 give it." 
 
CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. iii 
 
 He paused to afford an opportunity to Mrs. 
 Hardinge to speak, of which she did not avail 
 herself. 
 
 " Lady Cairo," he continued, " did not 
 communicate at all with the mover of the 
 resolution, Lord Reginald. Will you be averse 
 to my asking you to advise me on the 
 subject ? " 
 
 It will be observed that he did not ask 
 for the advice. He well knew, if he did so, 
 Mrs, Hardinge would be bound to declare 
 that he had asked for advice, and whether 
 she gave it or not, would still be unable to 
 conceal that it was sought from her. The 
 Emperor now only put his question on the 
 footing of whether she was willing that he 
 should seek her opinion. Mrs. Hardinge 
 appreciated his consideration. It all came 
 back to the point that the objection to Lord 
 Reginald was of a personal nature, and as 
 such it was in the last degree distasteful to 
 every one to be mixed up with its considera- 
 tion. 
 
 "Your Majesty," said Mrs. Hardinge, "has 
 
112 AALVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 a claim to seek my advice on the subject ; 
 but there are reasons which make me very 
 averse to giving it. If I can avoid doing so, 
 you will make me very grateful.'^ 
 
 The Emperor mused. " Whatever the 
 special reasons may be, why should 1 force on 
 so valuable a public servant the necessity of 
 making a lifelong enemy of this unscrupulous 
 man ? To me his enmity matters little. I will 
 myself decide the point. Lord Reginald did 
 not carry his resolution, and Mrs. Hardinge 
 need not have tendered her resignation. She 
 did offer it ; and, guided by constitutional 
 rule, I sent for the leader of the Opposition. 
 I did not take advice from Mrs, Hardinge 
 as to whether I should send for Lord Reginald 
 or Lady Cairo. I acted on my own respon- 
 sibility, as in such cases I prefer doing. I 
 am opposed to the principle of a retiring 
 Minister selecting his or her successor. I 
 had the right to suppose that Lady Cairo 
 would consult Lord Reginald, though not to 
 complain of her failing to do so. If I send for 
 Lord Reginald, it must be of my own initiative 
 
CABINET XEGOriATIONS. 113 
 
 There is no reason why I should consult Mrs. 
 Hardinge now, seeing that I did not consult 
 her at first. So much then is settled. Now I 
 must myself decide if I will send for Lord 
 Reginald. It will be distasteful to me to do 
 so. I have no confidence in the man, and it 
 would be a meaningless compliment, for he 
 cannot form a Government. Why should I 
 make a request I know cannot be complied 
 with ? Constitutional usage does not demand 
 it ; in fact, the precedent will be injurious. 
 Because of a sudden accidental combination, 
 the representative of a small party has no 
 right to be elevated into the most important 
 leader. Such a practice would encourage 
 combinations injurious to party government. 
 If I had intended to send for Lord Reginald, 
 1 ought to have summoned him before I sought 
 Lady Cairo. I am quite satisfied that the 
 course 1 pursued was constitutional and wise, 
 and I should throw doubt upon it by sending 
 for Lord Reginald now." These reflections 
 were made in less time than it takes to write 
 them down. 
 
 8 
 
114 JiA^A^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 "Mrs. Hardinge," said the Emperor, "we 
 now begin our official interview. Be kind 
 enough to efface from your mind what has 
 hitherto passed. I have to ask you to with- 
 draw your resignation. Lady Cairo, the leader 
 of the Opposition, has declined to act, on the 
 ground that she cannot form a Government 
 which will sufficiently possess the confidence 
 of a majority of the House." 
 
 "It shall be as your Majesty wishes," said 
 Mrs. Hardinge. 
 
 When the House met, Mrs. Hardinge, by 
 agreement with Lady Cairo, merely stated 
 that, after the division of last week, she had 
 felt it her dut}^ to tender the resignation of her 
 Government to the Emperor. 
 
 Lad}' Cairo in very few words explained 
 that the Emperor had sent for her and enti usted 
 her with the formation of a Government, and 
 that, after sufficient consideration, she resolved 
 it was not desirable she should undertake the 
 task, as she could not rely on a majority 
 in the House and could not submit to lead 
 it on sufferance. 
 
CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 115 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge again rose, and explained 
 that, at the request of the Emperor, she had 
 withdrawn her resignation. Loud cheers from 
 all sides of the House followed the intimation. 
 
 Public feeling during the week had abun- 
 dantly shown itself to be against a change of 
 government upon what really amounted to a 
 theoretical question, as the matter was not 
 before the House upon which the resolution 
 was nearly carried. It was argued that even 
 if carried it would have been a most unsatis- 
 factory reason for a change of government. 
 
 There was one member in the Chamber to 
 whom all that had passed was gall and worm- 
 wood. Lord Reginald left the House last 
 week a marked and distinguished man. For 
 the first twenty-four hours he received from 
 those persons throughout the Empire who 
 made it their business to stand well with " the 
 powers that be " congratulations of a most 
 flattering description. To-day there was "none 
 so poor to do him reverence." 
 
 The change was intolerable to a man of his 
 proud and haught}' disposition. The worst 
 
ii6 A^rJVO DOMINI -2000. 
 
 feature of it was that he could not single out 
 any one specially for complaint. There was 
 no disguising from himself what every one in 
 the House knew, and what every one through- 
 out the Empire soon would know : that the 
 Emperor himself and the leaders of both the 
 great parties did not think him worthy of 
 consideration. As we have seen, there was 
 no actual slight ; that is to say, constitutional 
 usages had been followed. But to his mind 
 he had been slighted in a most marked and 
 offensive fashion. Why was he not sent for 
 at first ? Why did not Lady Cairo consult 
 him ? Why was Mrs. Hardinge asked to with- 
 draw her resignation without his assistance 
 being sought — he, the mover of the resolution ; 
 he, the man who brought on the crisis about 
 which miles of newspaper columns had since 
 been written ? He forgot that no one had 
 asked him to take the action he did, that he 
 had sought no advice on the subject, and that 
 politicians who elect to act on their own account 
 have no right to complain of the isolation they 
 court. Scarcel}^ any one spoke to him. A 
 
CABINET NEGOTIATIONS. 117 
 
 member near him, noticing his extreme pallor, 
 asked him if he was unwell ; but no one seemed 
 to care about him or to remember that he had 
 had anything to do with the crisis which, to 
 the rejoicing of all sides, was over. " The news- 
 papers," he thought, " will not forget." They 
 had blamed him during the last week ; now they 
 would ridicule and laugh at him. He writhed 
 at the reflection ; and when he reached the quiet 
 of his own home, he paced his large study as 
 one demented. " I will be revenged," he 
 muttered over and over again. " I will show 
 them I am not so powerless a being ; they shall 
 all repent the insult they have put on me : and 
 as for that girl, that image of snow — she has 
 set Mrs. Hardinge against me. She shall grovel 
 at my feet ; she shall implore me to marry 
 her." 
 
VI. 
 
 BAFFLED REVENGE. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BAFFLED REVENGE, 
 
 T T ILDA'S most confidential secretary was 
 ^ ^ her sister, Maud Fitzherbert. She was 
 some two or three years younger, a lovely, 
 graceful girl, and possessed of scarcely less 
 intellectual power than Hilda. She had per- 
 haps less inclination for public life; but both 
 the girls were learned in physical laws, in 
 mathematics, in living languages, in every- 
 thing, in short, to which they devoted their 
 extraordinary mental powers. They adored 
 each other, and Maud looked up to Hilda as 
 to a divinity. 
 
 The latter was writing in her room. Maud 
 came to her. "Lord Montreal is most anxious 
 to see you for a few minutes." 
 
 Lord Montreal was a fine-looking, handsome 
 
122 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 young man of twenty-five years of age. He 
 was a brave soldier, a genial companion, and 
 a general favonrite. He was the second son 
 of the Duke of Ontario. He had known the 
 Fitzherberts since they were children, and the 
 families were intimate. Hilda greeted him 
 cordially. 
 
 " I will not detain you," he said ; " but I 
 have had important information confided to 
 me in strict secrecy. I cannot tell you who 
 was my informant, and you must not use my 
 name. Will you accept the conditions ? " 
 
 " I must, I suppose, if you insist on 
 them." 
 
 " I must insist on them. My information 
 much concerns my commanding officer, Lord 
 Reginald Paramatta, with whom I am only on 
 formal terms ; and therefore my name must 
 not appear. As to my informant, his condition 
 was absolute secrecy as to his name. The 
 gist of what he told me was that Lord 
 Reginald is organising a secret society, with 
 objects certainly not loyal to the Emperor, if 
 indeed they are not treasonable. I gathered 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 123 
 
 that there is something more contemplated 
 than theoretical utterances, and that action of 
 a most disastrous character may ibllow if 
 steps to arrest it be not at once taken. The 
 information was imparted to me in order 
 that I might bring it to you. I feel that I 
 have been placed in a false position by being 
 made the recipient without proof of state- 
 ments so damaging to my superior officer ; 
 and though I fear that I may be placing a 
 trouble upon you, I have on reflection not 
 thought myself warranted in withholding the 
 statement, as it was made to me with the 
 object of its reaching you. Never again 
 will I give assurances about statements the 
 nature of which I do not know." 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert seemed to be destined to 
 annoyance through Lord Reginald. She was 
 now called to set the detective power in force 
 against a man who a few days since so eagerly 
 sought her hand. 
 
 " I certainly wish," she said, " that you will 
 not give promises which will land you into 
 bringing me information of this kind." 
 
124 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 " You surely," said Montreal, " do not care 
 for Lord Reginald ? " 
 
 " I may not and do not care lor him, but 
 it is not agreeable to be asked to search out 
 criminal designs on the part of a person with 
 whom one is acquainted." 
 
 " Forgive me, Hilda," said Montreal. "It was 
 thoughtless of me not to think that I might 
 give you pain. But, you see, I regard you as 
 indifferent to everything but public affairs. 
 Now Maud is different ; " and he looked at the 
 fair girl who still remained in the room, with 
 eyes in which warm affection was plainly visible. 
 
 " Maud has a heart, of course ; but I have 
 not," said Hilda, with more irritation than she 
 was accustomed to display. 
 
 7"he poor girl had suffered much annoyance 
 during the last few days, and the climax was 
 attained that afternoon when she read in a paper 
 purposely sent to her a strangely inverted account 
 of her relations with Lord Reginald. According 
 to this journal, Mrs. Hardinge had treated Lord 
 Reginald cruelly because she could not induce 
 him to respond to the affection which her 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE: 125 
 
 protegee Hilda Fitzherbert felt for the great 
 soldier. In spite of, or perhaps on account of, 
 her vast mental power, Hilda was possessed of 
 a singularly sensitive character. She g-ave 
 herself up to public affairs in the full conviction 
 that women could do so without sacrificing in 
 the smallest degree their self-respect. She 
 had a high conception of the purity and 
 holiness of woman's individual existence, and 
 it seemed to her a sacrilege to make the public 
 life of a woman the excuse for dragging before 
 the eyes of the world anything that affected 
 her private feeHngs. She was intensely 
 annoyed at this paragraph. In the end, we 
 may say in anticipation. Lord Reginald did not 
 come out of it with advantage. The next issue 
 of the paper contained the following passage : 
 "In reference to what appeared in our columns 
 last week about Miss Fitzherbert, we must 
 apologise to that lady. We are informed by 
 Mrs. Hardinge that the facts were absolutely 
 inverted. It is not Lord Reginald who is 
 unwilling. It is Lord Reginald who has 
 received a decidedly negative reply." 
 
126 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 Hilda was not one to readily inflict her own 
 annoyances on others. She recovered herself 
 in a moment as she saw the pained look on 
 Maud's face. " Forgive me, Montreal ; forgive 
 me, Maud," she said. " I have much to disturb 
 me. I did not mean to be unkind. Of course, 
 Montreal, I should have liked your aid in 
 this matter ; but as you cannot give it, I must 
 see what I can do without it. Good-bye, 
 Montreal. Maud dear, send at once to Colonel 
 Laurient, and ask him if he will do me the 
 kindness to come to see me at once." 
 
 Colonel Laurient was a very remarkable 
 man. He was on his mother's side of an 
 ancient Jewish family, possessing innumerable 
 branches all over the world. At various times 
 members of the family had distinguished 
 themselves both in public life and in scientific, 
 commercial, and financial pursuits. Colonel 
 Laurient was the second son of one of the 
 principal partners in the De Childrosse group, 
 the largest and most wealthy financial house 
 in the world. When his education was 
 completed, he decided not to enter into the 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 127 
 
 business, as his father gave him the option of 
 doing. He had inherited an enormous fortune 
 from his aunt, the most celebrated scientific 
 chemist and inventor of her day. She had 
 left him all the law permitted her to leave 
 to one relation. He entered the army, and 
 also obtained a seat in Parliament. As a 
 soldier he gained a reputation for extreme skill 
 and discretion in the guerilla warfare that 
 sometimes was forced on the authorities in the 
 British Asiatic possessions. On one occasion 
 by diplomatic action he changed a powerful foe 
 on the frontier of the Indian possessions to a 
 devoted friend, his knowledge of languages 
 and Asiatic lore standing him in good stead. 
 This action brought him to the notice of the 
 Emperor, who soon attached him to his 
 personal service, and, it was said, put more 
 taith in his opinions than in those of any person 
 living. He was rather the personal friend than 
 the servant of the Emperor. 
 
 Some twenty years before the date of our 
 story it was found necessary to give to the 
 then Sovereign a prixate service of able and 
 
128 AAWO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 devoted men. It was the habit of the Emperor 
 of United Britain to travel about the whole of 
 his vast dominions. The means of travelling 
 were greatly enlarged, and what would at one 
 time have been considered a long and fatiguing 
 expedition ceased to possess any difficulty or 
 inconvenience. A journey from London to 
 Melbourne was looked upon with as much 
 indifference as one from London to the Con- 
 tinent used to be. It became apparent that 
 either the freedom of the Emperor to roam 
 about at pleasure must be much curtailed, or 
 that he must be able to travel without encroach- 
 ing on the ordinary public duty of his con- 
 stitutional advisers. Thus a species of personal 
 bodyguard grew up, with the members of 
 which, according as his temperament dictated, 
 the Sovereign became on more or less intimate 
 personal terms. The officers holding this 
 coveted position had no official status. If there 
 was any payment, the Emperor made it. There 
 was no absolute knowledge of the existence 
 of the force, if such it could be called, or of 
 who composed it. That the Sovereign had 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 129 
 
 intimate followers was of course known, and 
 it was occasionally surmised that they held 
 recognised and defined positions. But it was 
 merely surmise, after all ; and not half a dozen 
 people outside of Cabinet rank could have posi- 
 tively named the friends of the Emperor who 
 were members of the bodyguard. 
 
 Colonel Laurient retired from Parliament, 
 where he had rather distinguished himself in 
 the treatment of questions requiring large 
 geographical and historical knowledge ; and it 
 was commonly supposed, he wished to give 
 more attention to his military duties. In 
 reality he became chief of the Emperor's body- 
 guard, and, it might be said, was the eyes 
 and ears of the Sovereign. With consummate 
 ability he organised a secret intelligence depart- 
 ment, and from one end of the dominions to 
 the other he became aware of everything that 
 was passing. Not infrequently the Emperor 
 amazed Cabinet Ministers with the extent of 
 his knowledge of immediate events. Colonel 
 Laurient never admitted that he held any 
 official position, and literally he did not hold 
 
 9 
 
X30 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 any such position. He received no pay, and 
 his duties were not defined. He loved the 
 Emperor personally for himself, and the 
 Emperor returned the feeling. Really the most 
 correct designation to give to his position was 
 to term him the Emperor's most devoted friend 
 and to consider that in virtue thereof the 
 members of the bodyguard regarded him as 
 their head, because he stood to them in the 
 place of the Emperor himself. 
 
 Hilda Fitzherbert knew something, and 
 conjectured more, as to his position. She was 
 frequently brought into communication with 
 him, and after she heard Lord Montreal's 
 story she instantly determined to consult him. 
 He came quickly on her invitation. He was 
 always pleased to meet her. 
 
 Colonel Laurient was a tall, slender man, ap- 
 parently of about thirty-five years of age. His 
 complexion was very dark ; and his silky, curly 
 hair was almost of raven blackness. His 
 features were small and regular, and of that 
 sad but intellectual type common to some of 
 the pure-bred Asiatic races. You would deem 
 
BAFFLED REJFNGE. 131 
 
 him a man who knew how to " suffer and be 
 strong ; " you would equally deem him one whom 
 no difficulty could frighten, no obstacle baffle. 
 You would expect to see his face light up 
 to enjoyment not because of the prospect of 
 ordinary pleasure, but because of affairs of 
 exceeding gravity which called for treatment 
 by a strong hand and subtle brain. His manner 
 was pleasing and deferential ; and he had a 
 voice of rare harmony, over which he possessed 
 complete control. Cordial greetings passed 
 between him and Miss Fitzherbert. There was 
 no affectation of apology being necessary for 
 sending for him or of pleasure on his part at 
 the summons. Briefly she told him of Lord 
 Montreal's communication. He listened atten- 
 tively, then carelessly remarked, " Lord 
 Reginald's conduct has been ver}'^ peculiar 
 lately." 
 
 Do what she would, the girl could not help 
 giving a slight start at this remark, made as it 
 was with intention. Colonel Laurient at once 
 perceived that there was more to be told than 
 he already was aware of He knew a great 
 
132 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 deal that had passed with Lord Reginald, and 
 guessed more; and gradually, with an apparently 
 careless manner, he managed to elicit so much 
 from Hilda that she thought it wiser to tell him 
 precisely all that had occurred, especially the 
 account of her last interview with Lord 
 Reginald and his subsequent letter resigning 
 his appointment. 
 
 " Confidences with me," he said, " are entirely 
 safe. Now I understand his motives, you and 
 I start on fair terms, which we could not do 
 whilst you knew more than I did." 
 
 Then they discussed what had better be 
 done. •' It may be," Colonel Laurient said, 
 " that there is nothing in it. There is a 
 possibility that it is a pure invention, and it is 
 even possible that Lord Reginald may have 
 himself caused the invention to reach you for the 
 purpose of giving you annoyance. Montreal's 
 informant may have been instigated by Lord 
 Reginald. Then there is the possibility —we 
 may say probability — that the purposes of the 
 society do not comprise a larger amount of 
 disaffection or dissatisfaction than the law 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 133 
 
 permits. And, lastly, there is let us say the 
 barest possibility that Lord Reginald, enraged 
 to madness, may have determined on some 
 really treasonable action. You know in old 
 days it was said, ' Hell has no fury like a 
 woman scorned;' but in our time we would 
 not give the precedence for wounded vanity 
 to woman ; man is not wanting in the same 
 susceptibility, and Lord Reginald has passed 
 through a whole series of humiliating experi- 
 ences. I knew some of them before I saw you 
 this afternoon. You have filled up the list 
 with a bitter from which he doubtless suffers 
 more than from all the rest." 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert appeared to care little for 
 this strain of conjecture. " What is the use of 
 it ? " she said. "However infinitesimal the risk 
 of treasonable designs, the Emperor must not 
 be allowed to run it." 
 
 "You are right," said Colonel Laurient. " I 
 do not, as you know, appear in these matters ; 
 but I have means of obtaining information of 
 secret things. Within twenty-four hours I 
 will see you again and let you know what it all 
 
134 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 means. We can then decide the course to 
 take." 
 
 Some explanation is necessary to enable 
 Colonel Laurient's remarks about the limits of 
 disaffection to be understood. Freedom of 
 thought and expression was amongst the 
 cardinal liberties of the subject most prized. 
 In order to recognise its value, it was long 
 since determined that a line should be drawn 
 beyond which the liberty should not extend. 
 It was argued that nothing could be more 
 cruel than to play with disaffection of a 
 dangerous nature. Not only was it the means 
 of increasing the disaffection, but of gradually 
 drawing eminent people into compromising 
 positions. The line then was drawn at this 
 point : — upon any subject that did not affect the 
 fundamental principles of the Constitution 
 change might be permissible, but any advocacy 
 or even suggestion of destroj'ing those funda- 
 mental principles was regarded as treasonable. 
 The Constitution was so framed as to indicate 
 within itself the principles which were suscep- 
 tible of modification or change, such, for 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 135 
 
 example, as the conditions of the franchise and 
 the modes of conducting elections. But there 
 were three fundamental points concerning which 
 no change was allowable, and these were — first, 
 that the Empire should continue an empire ; 
 secondly, that the sovereignty should remain 
 in the present reigning family ; and thirdly, that 
 the union of the different parts of the dominion 
 was irrevocable and indissoluble. It will be 
 remembered that a great aversion had been 
 expressed by the upholders of the Constitution 
 to the proposal to change the law of succession 
 within the imperial family. It could not be 
 said to touch on the second fundamental 
 principle, as it did not involve a change of 
 dynasty ; yet many thought it too nearly 
 approached one of the sacred, unchangeable 
 principles. 
 
 As regards the fundamental principles, no 
 discussion was permissible. To question even 
 the wisdom of continuing the Empire, of pre- 
 serving the succession in the imperial family, 
 or of permitting a separation of any of the 
 dominions was held to be rank treason ; and no 
 
136 AAWO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 mercy was shown to an offender. Outside of 
 these points changes could be made, and 
 organisations to promote changes were legi- 
 timate, however freely they indulged in plain 
 speech. The conduct of the Emperor himself 
 was legitimately a subject of comment, 
 especially on any point in which he appeared 
 to fail in respect to the Constitution he had 
 sworn to uphold. It need scarcely be said 
 that the Constitution was no longer an ill- 
 defined and unwritten one. Such a Constitu- 
 tion worked well enough as long as the 
 different parts of the Empire were united only 
 during pleasure. When the union became 
 irrevocable, it was a natural necessity that the 
 conditions of union should be defined. 
 
 It may be convenient here to state some of 
 the broad features of the governing and social 
 system. It has already been said that, without 
 approaching to communism, it had long since 
 been decided that every human being was 
 entitled to a share in the good things of the 
 world, and that destitution was abhorrent. 
 It was also recognised that the happiest 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 137 
 
 condition of humanity was a reasonable 
 amount of work and labour. For that very 
 reason, it was decided not to make the labour 
 distasteful by imposing it as a necessity. 
 The love of work, not its necessity, was the 
 feeling it was desirable to implant. Manual 
 work carried with it no degradation, and there 
 was little work to be done which did not 
 require intelligence. Mere brute force was 
 superseded by the remarkable contrivances for 
 affording power and saving labour which 
 were brought even to the humblest homes. 
 The waves, tides, and winds stored up power 
 which was convertible into electricity or com- 
 pressed air ; and either of these aids to labour- 
 saving could be carried from house to house 
 as easily as water. If men and women wished 
 to be idle and State pensioners, it was open to 
 them to follow their inclination ; but they had 
 to wear uniforms, and they were regarded as 
 inferior by the healthy body politic. The 
 aged, infirm, and helpless might enjoy State 
 aid without being subjected to such a humilia- 
 tion or to any disability. The starting-point 
 
138 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 was that, if a person was not sufficiently 
 criminal to be the inmate of a prison, he 
 should not be relegated to a brutal existence. 
 It was at first argued that such a system would 
 encourage inaction and idleness ; the State 
 would be deluged with pensioners. But subtler 
 counsels prevailed. Far-seeing men and 
 women argued that the condition of the world 
 was becoming one of contracted human labour ; 
 and if the viciously inclined refused to work, 
 there would be more left to those who had the 
 ambition to be industrious. " But," was the 
 rejoinder, "you are stifling ambition by making 
 the lowest round of the ladder so comfortable 
 and luxurious." To this was replied, "Your 
 argument is superficial. Survey mankind ; 
 and you will see that, however lowly its 
 lowest position, there is a ceaseless, persistent 
 effort to rise on the part of nearly every well- 
 disposed person, from the lowliest to the most 
 exalted." Ambition, it was urged, was natural 
 to man, but it was least active amongst the 
 poverty-crushed classes. Mankind as a whole 
 might be described as myriads of units striving 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 139 
 
 to ascend a mountain. The number of those 
 contented to rest on the plateaus to which 
 they had chnibed was infinitesimal compared 
 with the whole. It would be as difficult to 
 select them as it would be to pick out a lazy 
 bee from a whole hive. Whether you started 
 at the lowest class, with individuals always on 
 the point of starvation, with families herded 
 together with less decency than beasts of the 
 fields, and with thousands of human beings 
 who from cradle to grave knew not what happi- 
 ness meant, or made the start from a higher 
 elevation, upon which destitution was im- 
 possible, there would still continue the climbing 
 of myriads to greater heights and the resting 
 on plateaus of infinitesimally few ; indeed, as 
 poverty tended to crush ambition, there would 
 be a larger range of aspiration accompanying 
 an improvement in the condition of the lowliest 
 class. And so it proved. 
 
 The system of government and taxation 
 followed the theory of the range above destitu- 
 tion. Taxes were exacted in proportion to the 
 ability to pay them. The payments for the 
 
140 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 many services the Post Office rendered were 
 not regarded as taxation. The customs duties 
 were looked upon as payments made in pro- 
 portion to the desires of the people to use 
 dutiable goods. If high customs duties meant 
 high prices, they also meant high wages. 
 
 The Empire, following the practice of other 
 countries, was utterly averse to giving employ- 
 ment to the peoples of foreign nations. Every 
 separate local dominion within the Empire was 
 at liberty to impose by its legislature what 
 duties it pleased as between itself and other 
 parts of the Empire, but it was imperatively 
 required to collect three times the same duties 
 on commodities from foreign countries. This 
 was of course meant to be prohibitive of foreign 
 importations, and was practicable because the 
 countries within the Empire could supply every 
 commodity in the world. It was argued that 
 to encourage foreign importations merely meant 
 to pit cheap labour against the price for labour 
 within the Empire. Besides the customs duties, 
 the revenue was almost entirely made up of in- 
 come tax and succession duties. Stamp duties. 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 141 
 
 as obstacles to business, were considered an 
 evidence of the ignorance of the past. The 
 first five hundred pounds a year of income 
 was free ; but beyond that amount the State 
 appropriated one clear fourth of all incomes. 
 Similarly one quarter of the value of all suc- 
 cessions, real or personal, in excess of ten 
 thousand pounds, was payable to the State ; and 
 disposition by gifts before death came witliin 
 the succession values. A man or woman was 
 compelled to leave half his or her property, 
 after payment of succession duty, in defined 
 proportion to the children and wife or husband, 
 as the case might be, or failing these to near 
 relations ; the other half he or she might dispose 
 of at pleasure. It was argued that to a certain 
 extent the amasser of wealth had only a life 
 interest in it, and that it was not for the 
 happiness of the successors of deceased people 
 to come into such wealth that the ambition to 
 work and labour would be wanting. The 
 system did not discourage the amassment of 
 wealth ; on the contrary, larger fortunes were 
 made than in former times. Higher prices 
 
142 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 gave to fortunes of course a comparatively less 
 purchasing power ; but taking the higher prices 
 into consideration, the accumulation of wealth 
 became a more honourable ambition and a 
 pleasanter task when it ceased to be purchased 
 at the expense of the comfort of the working 
 classes. 
 
 The customs duties belonged to the separate 
 Governments that collected them, and the 
 quarter-income tax and succession duties were 
 equally divided between the Imperial and the 
 Dominion Governments. Thus the friction 
 between them was minimised. The Imperial 
 Government and the Dominion Governments 
 both enjoyed during most years far more 
 revenue than they required, and so large a 
 reserve fund was accumulated that no in- 
 convenience was felt in years of depression. 
 Part of the surplus revenues arising from 
 the reserve fund was employed in large edu- 
 cational and benevolent works and under- 
 takings. The result of the system was that 
 pecuniary suffering in all directions was at an 
 end ; but the ambition to acquire wealth, with 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 143 
 
 its concomitant powers, was in no degree 
 abated. 
 
 Of course there was not universal content — 
 such a condition would be impossible — but the 
 controversies were, as a rule, less bitter than 
 the former ones which prevailed between dif- 
 ferent classes. The man-and-woman struggle 
 was one of the large points of constant differ- 
 ence, and again there was much difference of 
 opinion as to whether the quarter-income 
 and succession duties might be reduced to a 
 fifth. It was argued, on the one hand, that the 
 reserve funds were becoming too large, and 
 that the present generation was working too 
 much for its successors. On the other hand, 
 it was urged that the present generation in 
 working for its successors was merely per- 
 petuating the gift which it had inherited, and 
 that by preserving the reserve funds great 
 strength was given to contend against any 
 reverses that the future might have in store. 
 Another point of controversy was the strength 
 of the naval and military forces. A compara- 
 tively small school of public men argued that 
 
144 ANNO DOMINI 20DO. 
 
 the cost and strength might be materially 
 reduced without risk or danger, but the general 
 feehng was not with them. 
 
 This has been a long digression, but it was 
 necessary to the comprehension of our story. 
 It will easily be understood from what has 
 been said that, supposing the alleged action of 
 Lord Reginald was dictated b}' revenge, it was 
 difficult to see, unless he resorted to treasonable 
 efforts, what satisfaction he could derive from 
 any agitation. 
 
 Colonel Laurient the next afternoon fulfilled 
 his promise of waiting on Hilda. She had 
 suffered great anxiety during the interval — the 
 anxiety natural to i]l-defined fears and doubts. 
 He looked careworn, and his manner was more 
 serious than on the previous day. " I have 
 found out all about it," he said; "and I 
 am sorry there is more cause for anxiet}' 
 than we thought yesterday. It is undoubtedly 
 true that Lord Reginald is organising some 
 combination ; and although the proof is wanting, 
 there is much reason to fear that his objects 
 are not of a legitimate nature. It is impossible 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 145 
 
 to believe, he would take the trouble which 
 he is assuming, to deal only with questions to 
 which he has never shown an inclination. I 
 am persuaded that behind the cloak of his 
 ostensible objects lies ambition or revenge, or 
 perhaps both, pointing to extreme and highly 
 dangerous action." 
 
 " You are probably right," said Miss Fitz- 
 herbert, who knew from the manner of the 
 Emperor's favourite that he was much disturbed 
 by what he had heard. " But even so, what 
 obstacle lies in the way of putting an end to 
 the projected action, whatever its nature ? " 
 
 " There is a great obstacle," promptly replied 
 the Colonel ; " and that is the doubt as to what 
 the nature of the project is. Lord Reginald is 
 a clever man ; and notwithstanding his late 
 failure, he has plenty of friends and admirers, 
 especially among his own sex, and amongst 
 soldiers, both volunteers and regulars, I have 
 ascertained enough to show me that the leaders 
 intend to keep within ostensibly legitinjate 
 limits until the time comes to unfold their 
 full design to their followers, and that then 
 
 10 
 
146 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 they will trust to the comradeship of the latter 
 and to their fears of being already compromised." 
 
 Hilda was quick of apprehension. " I see 
 they will organise to complain perhaps of the 
 nature of the taxation, and only expose their 
 treasonable objects at a later time." 
 
 Colonel Laurient gazed on her with admira- 
 tion. "How readily you comprehend!" he 
 said. " I believe you alone can grapple with 
 the situation." 
 
 The girl Hushed, and then grew pale. She 
 did not know what physical fear meant. 
 Probably, if her feelings were analysed, it would 
 have been found that the ruling sensation she 
 experienced was an almost delirious pleasure 
 at the idea that she could do a signal service 
 to the Emperor. 
 
 She replied, however, with singular self- 
 repression. " 1 am not quick enough," she said, 
 with a slight smile, " to understand how I can 
 be of any use." 
 
 " The organisation has been proceeding 
 some time, although I fancy Lord Reginald 
 has only lately joined and accepted the leader- 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 147 
 
 ship. It numbers thousands who beheve 
 themselves banded together only to take strong 
 measures to reduce taxation, on the ground 
 that the reserve funds have become amply large 
 enough to permit such reduction. But the 
 leaders have other views ; and I have ascertained 
 that they propose to hold a meeting three days 
 hence, at which it is possible — nay, I think, 
 probable — there will be an unreserved dis- 
 closure." 
 
 "Why not," said Miss Fitzherbert, "arrest 
 them in the midst of their machinations ? " 
 
 " There lies the difficulty," responded the 
 Colonel. " It entirely depends on the nature 
 of the disclosures whether the Government 
 authorities are entitled to take any action. If 
 the disclosures fall short of being treasonable, 
 it would be held that there was interference 
 of a most unpardonable character with freedom 
 of speech and thought ; and the last of it would 
 never be heard. Dear Miss Fitzherbert," he 
 said caressingly, "we want some one at the 
 meeting with a judgment so evenly balanced 
 and accurate that she will be able on the 
 
148 ANNO DO MINI 2000. 
 
 instant to dtcidc if the treasonable intentions 
 are sufficiently expressed or if it would be safer 
 not to interfere. I know no one so quick and 
 at the same time so logical in her judgment 
 as you. In vain have I thought of any one 
 else whom it would be nearly so safe to 
 employ." 
 
 " But how could it be managed?" inquired 
 Hilda. " Every one knows my appearance. 
 My presence would be immediately detected." 
 
 " Pray listen to me," said the Colonel, delight- 
 ed at having met with no strenuous opposition. 
 He had feared, he would have great difficulty 
 in persuading Miss Fitzherbert to take the 
 part he intended for her ; and, to his surprise, 
 she seemed inclined to meet him half-way. 
 Then he explained that the meeting was to 
 be held in the Parliamentary Hall, a cele- 
 brated place of meeting. It had been con- 
 structed with the express purpose of making 
 it impossible that any one not inside the Hall 
 could hear what was taking place. The 
 edifice was an enormous one of stone. Inside 
 this building, about fifteen feet from the walls 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 149 
 
 all round, and twenty feet from the roof, 
 was a second erection, composed entirely of 
 glass. So that as long as the external building 
 was better lighted than the interior one the 
 presence of a human being could be detected 
 outside the walls or on the roof of the hall of 
 meeting. The chamber was artificially cooled, 
 as indeed were most of the houses in the cities 
 of Australia, excepting during the winter months. 
 " This is the place of all others," said Miss 
 Fitzherbert, " where it would be difficult for an 
 unautliorised persoii to be present." 
 
 " Not so," replied Colonel Laurient. " The 
 inside hall is to be in darkness, and the exterior 
 dimly lighted. Only the vague outlines of 
 each person's form will be revealed ; and every 
 one is to come cloaked, and with a large over- 
 shadowing hat. From what I can gather, the 
 revelation is to be gradual and only to be com- 
 pleted if it should seem to be approved during 
 its progress. I expect Lord Reginald will be 
 the last to give in his adhesion, so that it might 
 be said he was deceived as to the purpose 
 of the meeting if he should see fit to withdraw 
 
ISO ANNO DOMINI 200(1. 
 
 from the declaration of its real object. Mind, 
 you are to be sole judge as to whether the 
 meeting transgresses the line which divides 
 the legitimate from the treasonable." 
 
 "Why not act yourself?" said Hilda. 
 
 " If you think for a moment," he replied, 
 "you will understand ir^y influence is main- 
 tained only so long as it is hidden. If I 
 appeared to act, it would cease altogether. 
 Unfortuhately I must often let others do what 
 I would gladly do myself Believe me, it is 
 painful to me to put tasks on you of any kind, 
 much less a task of so grave a nature. By 
 heavens ! " he exclaimed, carried away for a 
 moment, " there is a reason known to me only 
 why I might well dread for myself the great 
 service you will do the Emperor." 
 
 He was recalled to himself by the amazed 
 look of the girl. " Forgive me," he ejaculated. 
 " I did not mean anything. But there is no 
 danger to you ; of that be assured." 
 
 "Colonel Laurient," said Hilda gravely, 
 "you ought to know me well enough not to 
 suppose I am guided by fear." 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 151 
 
 "I do know it," he answered, "otherwise I 
 should not have asked you to undertake the 
 great task I have set before you. No woman 
 whose mind was disturbed by alarm could do 
 justice to it." 
 
 He told her that in some way, he did not 
 mention how, he had control over the manager 
 of the building, who had let it under a false 
 impression, and asked her if she was aware of 
 the comparatively late discovery of how to 
 produce artificial magnetism. 
 
 " I ought to be," she replied, with a smile, 
 " for I am credited with having been the first 
 to discover the principle of the remote branch 
 of muscular magnetising electricity on which it 
 depends." 
 
 " I had forgotten," he said, with an answering 
 smile. " One may be forgiven for forgetting 
 for a moment the wide nature of your investi- 
 gations and discoveries." 
 
 Then he explained to her that the principle 
 could be put into practice with perfect certainty 
 and safety, and that he would take care every- 
 thing was properly arranged. He would see 
 
152 ANNO DOMINI -2000. 
 
 her again and tell her the pass-words, the 
 part of the Hall she was to occupy, and the 
 mode she was to adopt to summon assistance. 
 
 The evening of the meeting came, and for half 
 an hour there were numerous arrivals at the 
 many doors of the huge building. Each person 
 had separately to interchange the pass-words 
 at both the outer and inner doors. At length 
 about twelve hundred people were assembled. 
 The lights outside the glass hall were com- 
 paratively feeble. The powerful electric lamps 
 were not turned on. The inner hall was un- 
 lighted, and received only a dull reflection from 
 the outer lights. Some surprise was expressed 
 by the usual frequenters of the Hall at the ap- 
 pearance inside the glass wall of a wooden dais, 
 sufficiently large to hold three or four people, 
 and with shallow steps on one side leading up 
 to it. Inquiry was made as to its object. The 
 doorkeeper, suitably instructed, replied carelessly 
 it was thought, they might require a stage from 
 which the speakers could address the audience. 
 The present meeting certainly did not want it. 
 The speakers had no desire to individually 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 153 
 
 bring themselves into notice. Hilda, muffled 
 up as were the rest, quietly took a seat close 
 to the steps of the dais. No president was 
 appointed ; no one appeared to have any 
 control ; yet as the meeting proceeded it was 
 evident that its tactics had been carefully 
 thought out, and that most, if not all, of the 
 speakers were fulfilling the parts allotted to 
 them. 
 
 First a tall, elderly man rose, and with con- 
 siderable force and fluency enlarged upon the 
 evils of the present large taxation. He went 
 into figures, and his speech ought to have been 
 effective, only no one seemed to take any 
 interest in it. Then there loomed on the 
 meeting the person apparently. of a middle-aged 
 woman. The cloaks and hats carefully mysti- 
 fied the identities of the sexes and individual 
 peculiarities. This speaker went a little further. 
 She explained that maintaining the Empire as 
 a whole entailed the sacrifice of regulating the 
 taxation so as to suit the least wealthy portions. 
 She carefull}' guarded herself from being more 
 than explanatory. The comparative poverty 
 
154 ANNO DO MINT '2000. 
 
 of England and the exactions of the self- 
 indulgent Londoners, sht- said, necessitated a 
 scale of taxation that hardy and rich Aus- 
 tralia, New Zealand, and Canada did not 
 require. Then a historically disposed young 
 woman rose and dwelt upon the time when 
 England thought a great deal more of herself 
 than of the Colonies and to curry favour with 
 foreign countries placed them on the same 
 footing as her own dominions. Little by little 
 various speakers progressed, testing at every 
 step the feelings of the audience, until at last 
 one went so far as to ask the question whether 
 the time w^ould ever come when Australia 
 would be found to be quite large and powerful 
 enough to constitute an empire of itself. 
 " Mind," said he, " I do not say the time 
 will come." Then an apparently excited 
 Australian arose. She would not, she said, 
 say a word in favour of such an empire ; but 
 she, an Australian bred and born, and with 
 a long line of Australian ancestors, was not 
 going to listen to any doubts being thrown on 
 Australia or Australians. The country and 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 155 
 
 the people, she declared, amidst murmuring 
 signs of assent, were fit for any destiny to 
 which they might be called. Then a logical 
 speaker rose and asked why were they forbidden 
 to discuss the question as to whether it was 
 desirable to retain the present limits of the 
 Empire or to divide it. He would not state 
 what his opinion was, but he would say this : 
 that he could not properly estimate the argu- 
 ments in favour of preserving the integrity of 
 the Empire unless he was at liberty to hear the 
 arguments and answer them of those who held 
 an opposite opinion. When this speaker sat 
 down, there was a momentary pause. It seemed 
 as if there was a short consultation between 
 those who were guiding the progress of the 
 meeting. Whether or not this was the case, 
 some determination appeared to be arrived at ; 
 and a short, portly man arose and said he did 
 not care for anybody or anything. He would 
 answer the question to which they had at 
 length attained by saying that in his opinion 
 the present empire was too large, that Aus- 
 tralia ought to be formed into a separate 
 
156 AA^NO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 empire, and that she would be quite strong 
 enough to take care of herself. 
 
 The low murmur of fear with which this 
 bold announcement was heard soon developed 
 into loud cheers, especially from that part of 
 the Hall where the controlling influence seemed 
 to be held. Then all restraint was cast aside; 
 and speaker after speaker affirmed, in all 
 varieties of eloquence, that Australia must be 
 an empire. Some discussed whether New 
 Zealand should be included, but the general 
 opinion appeared to be that she should be left 
 to her own decision in the matter. Then the 
 climax was approached. A speaker rose and 
 said there appeared to be no doubt in the mind 
 of the meeting as to the Empire of Australia ; 
 he hoped there was no doubt that Lord 
 Reginald Paramatta should be the first 
 Emperor. The meeting seemed to be getting 
 beyond the control of its leaders. It did not 
 appear to have been part of their programme to 
 put forward Lord Reginald's name at this 
 stage. It was an awkward fix, for no person 
 by name was supposed to be present, so that 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE. 157 
 
 he could neither disclaim the honour nor 
 express his thanks for it. One of the con- 
 trollers, a grave, tall woman, long past middle 
 age, dealt with this difficulty. They must 
 not, she said, go too far at first ; it was for 
 them now to say whether Australia should be 
 an empire. She loved to hear the enthusiasm 
 with which Lord Reginald Paramatta's name 
 was received. Australia boasted no greater 
 or more distinguished family than the Para- 
 mattas ; and as for Lord Reginald, every one 
 knew that a braver and better soldier did not 
 live. Still they must decide on the Empire 
 before the Emperor, and each person present 
 must answer the question was he or she 
 favourable to Australia being constructed into 
 a separate empire ? They could not in this 
 hght distinguish hands held up. Each person 
 must rise and throw off his or her cloak and 
 hat and utter the words, " I declare that I 
 am favourable to Austraha being constituted 
 an empire." Then, evidently with the inten- 
 tion of making the controllers and Lord 
 Reginald speak last, she asked the occupant of 
 
158 AIVA'O DOMIXI 2000. 
 
 the seat to the extreme left of the part of the 
 Hall most distant from her to be the first to 
 declare. Probably h.e and a few others had 
 been placed there for that purpose. At any 
 rate, he rose without hesitation, threw off his 
 cloak, removed his hat, and said, " I declare 
 myself in favour of Australia being constituted 
 an empire." Person after person from left to 
 right and from right to left of each line of 
 chairs followed the same action and uttered 
 the same words, and throughout the Ilall 
 there was a general removal of cloaks and 
 hats. At length it came to Hilda Fitzherbert's 
 turn. Without a moment's hesitation, the 
 brave girl rose, dropped her cloak and hat, 
 and in a voice distinctly heard from end to 
 end of the Hall said, " I declare I am not 
 in favour of Australia being constituted an 
 empire." 
 
 For a second there was a pause of con- 
 sternation. Then arose a Babel of sounds : 
 "Spy!" "Traitor!" "It is Hilda Fitzherbert;" 
 " She must not leave the Hall ahve ; " " We 
 have been betrayed." Shrieks and sobs were 
 
B A Ft LED REVENGE. 159 
 
 amongst the cries to be distinguished. Then 
 there arose a mighty roar of " She must die," 
 and a movement towards her. It was stilled 
 for a moment. Lord Reginald rose, and, with 
 a voice heard above all the rest, he thundered 
 forth, " She shall not die. She shall live 
 on one condition. Leave her to me ; " and he 
 strode towards her. 
 
 In one second the girl, like a fawn, sprang up 
 the steps of the dais, and touched a button con- 
 cealed in the wall, and then a second button. 
 Words are insufficient to describe the effect. 
 
 The first button was connected with wires 
 that ran through the flooring and communicated 
 to every being in the Hall excepting to Hilda, 
 on the insulated dais, a shock of magnetic 
 electricity, the effect of which was to throw 
 them into instantaneous motionless rigidity. 
 No limb or muscle could be moved ; as the 
 shock found them they remained. And the 
 pressure of the second button left no doubt 
 of the fact, for it turned on the electric current 
 to all the lamps inside and outside of the Hall, 
 until the chamber became a blaze of dazzling 
 
i6o , AXNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 light. Thtre was no longer disguise of face or 
 person, and every visage was at its worst. 
 Fear, terror, cruelty, or revenge was the 
 mastering expression on nearly every counte- 
 nance. Some faces showed that the owners 
 had been entrapped and betrayed into a situa- 
 tion they had not sought. But these were few, 
 and could be easily read. On the majority of 
 the countenances there was branded a mixture 
 of greed, thwarted ambition, personal malignity, 
 and cruelty horrible to observe. The pose of 
 the persons lent a ludicrous aspect to the 
 scene. Lord Reginald, for instance, had one 
 foot in front of the other in the progress he 
 was making towards Hilda. His body was 
 bent forward. His face wore an expression of 
 triumphant revenge and brutal love terrible to 
 look at. Evidently he had thought there "was 
 joy at last for my love and my revenge." 
 Hilda shuddered as she glanced down upon the 
 sardonic faces beneath her, and touched a 
 third button. An answering clarionet at once 
 struck out the signal to advance, and the 
 measured tread of troops in all directions 
 
BAFFLED REVENGE, i6i 
 
 was heard. The poor wretches in the Hall 
 preserved consciousness of what was passing 
 around, though they could not exercise their 
 muscular powers and felt no bodily pain. An 
 officer at the door close to the dais saluted 
 Miss Fitzherbert. " Be careful," she said, " to 
 put your foot at once on the dais and come up 
 to me." He approached her. " Have you your 
 orders ? " she asked. 
 
 "My orders," he said, "are to come from 
 you. We have photographers at hand." 
 
 " Have a photograph," she instructed him, 
 " taken of the whole scene, then of separate 
 groups, and lastly of each individual. Have 
 it done quickly," she added, " for the poor 
 wretches suffer mental, if not physical, pain. 
 Then every one may go free excepting the 
 occupants of the three top rows. The police 
 should see that these do not leave Melbourne." 
 
 She bowed to the officer, and sprang down the 
 steps and out of the Hall. At the outer door a 
 tall form met her. She did not require to look 
 — she was blinded by the light within — to be 
 convinced that it was Colonel Laurient who 
 
 II 
 
1 62 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 received her and placed her in a carriage. She 
 was overcome. The terrible scene she had 
 passed through had been too much for her. She 
 did not faint ; she appeared to be in a state of 
 numbed inertness, as if she had lost all mental 
 and physical power. Colonel Laurient almost 
 carried her into the house, and, with a face of 
 deathly pallor, consigned her to the care of her 
 sister. Maud had been partly prepared to 
 expect that Hilda would be strongly agitated 
 by some painful scene, and she was less struck 
 by her momentary helplessness than by the 
 agonised agitation of that usually self-com- 
 manding being Colonel Laurient. Probably no 
 one had ever seen him like this before. It 
 may be that he felt concern not only for 
 Hilda herself, but for the part he had played in 
 placing her in so agitating a position. 
 
VII. 
 
 HEROINE WORSHIP. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HEROINE WORSHIP. 
 
 T T was nearly twelve o'clock before Hilda 
 roused herself from a long and dreamless 
 slumber, consequent upon the fatigue and 
 excitement of the previous evening. She still 
 felt somewhat exhausted, but no physician could 
 have administered a remedy so efficacious as 
 the one she found ready to hand. On the 
 table beside her was a small packet sealed with 
 the imperial arms. She removed the covering ; 
 and opening the case beneath, a beautifully 
 painted portrait of the Emperor on an ivory 
 medallion met her enraptured gaze. The 
 portrait was set round with magnificent dia- 
 monds. But she scarcely noticed them ; it 
 was the painting itself that charmed her. The 
 Emperor looked just as he appeared when he 
 
1 66 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 said to her, "Tell me now as woman to man, 
 not as subject to emperor." There was the 
 same winning smile, the same- caressing yet 
 commanding look. She involuntarily raised 
 the medallion to her lips, and then blushed 
 rosy red over face and shoulders. She turned 
 the medallion, and on the back she found these 
 words engraved : " Albert Edward to Hilda, in 
 testimony of his admiration and gratitude." 
 He must have had these words engraved during 
 the night. 
 
 The maid entered. " Miss Fitzherbert," she 
 said, " during the last two hours there have 
 been hundreds of cards left for you. There is 
 quite a continuous line of carriages coming to 
 the door, and there have been bundles of 
 telegrams. Miss Maud is opening them." 
 
 Hilda realised the meaning of the line — 
 
 " Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." 
 
 Then the maid told her Mrs. Hardinge was 
 most anxious to see her and was waiting. She 
 would not allow her to be awakened. Hilda 
 said she would have her bath and see Mrs. 
 
HEROINE WORSHIP. 167 
 
 Hardinge in the little boudoir adjoining her 
 dressing-room in a few minutes. 
 
 Quite recovered from her last night's agita- 
 tion, Hilda looked her best in a charmingly 
 fashioned dressing-gown as she entered the 
 room where Mrs. Hardinge was waiting to 
 receive her. 
 
 " My dear, dear girl," said that lady as she 
 embraced her, " I am delighted. You are well 
 again ? I need not ask. Your looks proclaim 
 it. You are the heroine of the hour. The 
 Emperor learnt everything last night, and the 
 papers all over the world are full of it to-day. 
 Maud says the telegrams are from every part of 
 the globe, not only within our own empire, but 
 from Europe, and the United States, and South 
 America. You are a brave girl." 
 
 " Pray do not say so, Mrs. Hardinge. I 
 only did my duty — what any one in my place 
 would have done. Tell me all that has hap- 
 pened" 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge, nothing reluctant, replied 
 with animated looks and gestures. " Laurient 
 has told me everything. You instructed the 
 
1 68 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 officer, it seems, to keep a watch over only the 
 occupants of the three further rows. Lord 
 Reginald had left those, and was approaching 
 you. The officer, following your words literally, 
 allowed him to leave unwatched. Some sixty 
 only of the people were placed under espio- 
 nage. Nearly every one of the rest who were 
 present is supposed to have left Melbourne, 
 including Lord Reginald. We sent to his 
 house to arrest him, but he had departed in 
 one of his fastest long-distance air-cruisers. It 
 is supposed that he has gone to Europe, or to 
 America, or to one of his remote estates in the 
 interior of this continent. I am not sure that 
 the Emperor was displeased at his departure. 
 When the intelligence reached him, he said 
 to me, ' That will save Miss Fitzherbert from 
 appearing in public to give evidence. As for 
 the rest, it does not matter. They have been 
 fooled to serve that man's ends.' So now they 
 are free. But their names are known ; indeed, 
 their ridiculous appearance is immortalised. A 
 likeness was taken of every one, but the tout 
 ensemble is superbly grotesque. It is well so 
 
HEROINE WORSHIP. 169 
 
 few people know the secret of artificial magnet- 
 ism." 
 
 Hilda showed Mrs. Hardinge the Emperor's 
 magnificent present, and asked what was 
 she to do. Should she write a letter of 
 thanks ? 
 
 " Do so," said the shrewd woman of the 
 world. " Who knows that he will not value 
 the acknowledgment as you value the gift ? " 
 
 Again Hilda's face was suffused in red. " I 
 must go away," she said to herself, "until I can 
 better command myself" Then she begged 
 Mrs. Hardinge not to mention about the 
 Emperor's gift. " I shall only tell Maud of it. 
 I felt it was right to tell you." 
 
 " Of course it was," said Mrs. Hardinge; 
 " but it may be well not to mention it further. 
 There are thousands of persons who honour 
 and admire you ; but there are thousands also 
 who already envy you, and who will not envy 
 you the less because of this great deed." 
 
 Then she told Hilda that the Emperor 
 wished to do her public honour by making her 
 a countess in her own right. Hilda shrank 
 
170 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 from the distinction. " It will lose me my seat 
 in Parliament," she said. 
 
 " No. You will only have to stand for 
 re-election, and no one will oppose you." 
 
 " But," said the girl, " I am not rich enough." 
 
 " If report is correct, you soon will be. 
 The river-works in New Zealand are nearly 
 finished ; they will make you, it is said, a 
 millionaire." 
 
 " I had forgotten them for the moment, but 
 it is not safe to count on their success until the 
 test is actually made. This reminds me that 
 they will be finished next week ; and my friends 
 in New Zealand think that my sister and I 
 ought to be present, if only in honour of our 
 dear grandfather, who left us the interest we 
 hold in the river. Can you spare me for ten 
 days ? " 
 
 "Of course I can, Hilda dear. The change 
 will do you good. Laurient is going. He is said 
 to have an interest in the works. And Montreal 
 is going also. He too had an interest, but I 
 think he parted with it." 
 
 They discussed whether Hilda should go to 
 
HEROINE WORSHIP. 171 
 
 the fete that was to be held on Monday to 
 celebrate the centenary of the completion of 
 the irrigation of the Make Scrub Plains. 
 
 These plains were once about as desolate 
 and unromantic a locality as could be found ; 
 but a Canadian firm, Messrs. Chaffey Brothers, 
 had undertaken to turn the wilderness into a 
 garden by irrigation, and they had entirely 
 succeeded. An enormous population now 
 inhabited the redeemed lands, and a fete was to 
 be held in commemoration of the century that 
 had elapsed since the great work was completed. 
 The Emperor himself had agreed to be there. 
 Hilda begged to be excused. Her nerves were 
 shaken. She would dread the many congratu- 
 lations she would receive and the requests 
 to repeat over and over again the particulars 
 of the scene which inspired her now with only 
 horror and repulsion. 
 
 "You must not show yourself to-day," Mrs. 
 Hardinge said ; " and I will cry you off to- 
 morrow on the ground of illness. Next day 
 go to New Zealand, and by tlie time you return 
 you will be yourself again." 
 
172 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 " You may say too I am abundantly 
 occupied," said Hilda archly as Maud entered 
 the room with an enormous package of open 
 telegrams in her hands. " Dear Hilda, 3'ou 
 do look well to-day. I am so pleased," said 
 the delighted girl as she flung down the 
 telegrams and em.braced her sister. There was 
 something singularly pathetic in the love of 
 these two girls. Mrs. Hardinge left them to- 
 gether. Hilda showed the medallion in strict 
 confidence. Maud was literally enraptured 
 with it. " How noble, how handsome, he is ! 
 I know only one other man so beautiful." 
 Then she paused in confusion ; and Hilda rather 
 doubted the exception, though she knew it was 
 their old playfellow Montreal who was intended 
 
 " Who is the traitor," she said, " you dare 
 to compare with your Sovereign ? " 
 
 Maud, almost in tears, declared she did not 
 mean what she said. The Emperor was very 
 handsome. 
 
 " Do not be ashamed, my dear, to be true to 
 your feelings," said Hilda sententiously. " A 
 woman's heart is an empire of itself, and lie 
 
HEROINE WORSHIP. 173 
 
 who rules over it may be well content with a 
 single loyal subject." 
 
 " Nonsense, Hilda ! Do not tease nie. An 
 emperor, too, may rule over a woman's heart." 
 
 This was rather carrying the war into the 
 opposite camp. Miss Fitzherbert thought it 
 time to change the subject. They discussed 
 the telegrams. Then Maud told Hilda how 
 frightfully agitated Laurient was the previous 
 ^evening. Finally they decided they would go 
 to New Zealand the day after the next. They 
 debated if they should proceed in their own air- 
 cruiser or in the public one that left early 
 every morning. It was about a sixteen hours' 
 journey in the pubhc conveyance, but in their 
 own it would take less time. Besides, they 
 wished to go straight to Dunedin, where the 
 girls had a beautiful residence, and where their 
 friends were chiefly located. Hilda represented 
 Dunedin in the New Zealand Parliament, and 
 local government honours had been freely open 
 to her ; but, under the tutelage of Mrs. 
 Hardinge, she had preferred entering into 
 federal politics, though she continued in the 
 
174 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 New Zealand Parliament. Most of the leading 
 federal statesmen interested themselves with 
 one or other Dominion government. There 
 was such an absence of friction between the 
 federal and the separate dominion govern- 
 ments that no inconvenience resulted from 
 the dual attention, while it led to a more 
 intimate knowledge of local duties. Maud 
 bashfully remembered that Lady Taieri had 
 asked them to go to Dunedin on her beauti- 
 ful cruiser. " She was making up a party," 
 said Maud ; " and she mentioned that Colonel 
 Laurient and Lord Montreal were amongst the 
 number." 
 
 Hilda saw the wistful look in Maud's eyes. 
 " Let us go with Lady Taieri," she said ; and 
 so it was arranged. 
 
Vlll. 
 
 AIR-CRUISERS. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AIR-CRUISERS. 
 
 \ T 7" E trust our readers will not be wearied 
 ^ " because it is necessary to give them 
 at some length an explanation concerning the 
 aerial machines to which reference has so often 
 been made as air-cruisers. It need scarcely be 
 said that from time immemorial a great deal of 
 attention has been directed to the question 
 whether aerial travelling could he made sub- 
 servient to the purposes of man. Balloons, as 
 they were called, made of strong fabrics filled 
 with a gas lighter than air, were to some extent 
 used, but rarely for practical purposes. They 
 were in considerable request for military objects, 
 and it is recorded that Gambetta managed to 
 get out of Paris in a balloon when that city 
 was beleagured by the German arm}' in 1871. 
 
 12 
 
178 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 The principle of the balloon was the use of a 
 vessel which, weighing, with all its contents, less 
 than a similar volume of the atmosphere, would 
 consequently rise in the air. But evidentl}' no 
 great progress could be made with such an 
 apparatus. The low specific gravity of the 
 atmosphere forbade the hope of its being 
 possible to carry a heavy weight in great 
 quantity on a machine that depended for its 
 buoyancy on a less specific gravity. Besides, 
 there was danger in using a fabric because of 
 its liability to irreparable destruction by the 
 smallest puncture. 
 
 The question then was mooted, Could not an 
 aerial machine be devised to work although of 
 higher specific gravity than the air ? Birds, it 
 was argued, kept themselves afloat by the motion 
 of their wings, although their weight was con- 
 siderably greater than a similar volume of the 
 air through which they travelled. This idea was 
 pursued. The cheap production of aluminium, 
 a strong but light metal, gave an impulse to the 
 experiment ; and it was at length proved quite 
 satisfactorily that aerial travelling was practi- 
 
A IR- CR UISERS. 1 79 
 
 cable in vessels considerably heavier than the 
 air, by the use of quickly revolving fans working 
 in the directions that were found to be suitable 
 to the progress of the vessel. But great power 
 was required to make the fans revolve, and the 
 machinery to yield great power was propor- 
 tionately heavy. It was especially heavy if ap- 
 plied separately to a portion of the fans, whilst it 
 was dangerous to rely on one set of machinery, 
 since any accident to it would mean cessation 
 of the movement of the whole of the fans and 
 consequently instant destruction. It was con- 
 sidered that, for safety's sake, there should be 
 at least three sets of fans, worked by separate 
 machiner}'^, and that an}' one set should be able 
 to preserve sufficient buoyancy although the 
 other two were disabled. But whilst it was 
 easy to define the conditions of safety, it was 
 not easy to give them effect. All applications 
 of known engines, whether of steam, water gas, 
 electricity, compressed air, or petroleum, were 
 found to be too bulky ; and although three sets 
 of machines were considered necessar}', one set 
 only was generally used, and many accidents 
 
i8o ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 oecurred in consequence. The aerial mode of 
 travelling was much employed by the adven- 
 turous, but hundreds of people lost their lives 
 annually. 
 
 At length that grand association the 
 Inventors' Institution came to the rescue. The 
 founders of the Inventors' Institution, though 
 working really with the object of benefiting 
 humanity, were much too wise to place the 
 undertaking on a purely philanthropic basis. 
 On the contrary, they constructed it on a 
 commercial basis. The object was to encour- 
 age the progress of valuable inventions, and 
 they were willing to lend sums from trifling 
 amounts to very large ones to aid the develop- 
 ment of any invention of which they approved. 
 They might lend only a trifle to obtain a 
 patent or a large sum to make exhaustive ex- 
 periments. The borrower had to enter into a 
 bond to repay the amount tenfold or to any less 
 extent demanded by the Institution at its own 
 discretion. It was clearly laid down that, when 
 the invention proved a failure through no fault 
 of the inventor, he would not be asked for any 
 
AIR-CRUISERS. i8i 
 
 repayment. In case of moderate success, he 
 would only be asked for moderate repayment, 
 and so on. The fairness of the Institution's 
 exercise of discretion was rarely, if ever, called 
 into question. Once they lent nearly thirty 
 thousand pounds to finally develop an inven- 
 tion. Within four years they called upon the 
 inventor to repay nearly three hundred thou- 
 sand, but he was nothing loath. The invention 
 was a great commercial success and yielding 
 him at the rate of nearly a million per annum. 
 This association offered a large reward for the 
 best suggestion as to the nature of an invention 
 to render aerial travelling safe, quick, and eco- 
 nomical. A remarkable paper gained the prize. 
 The writer was an eminent chemist. He 
 expressed the opinion that the one possible 
 means of success was the use of a power which, 
 as in the case of explosives, could be easily 
 produced from substances of comparative light 
 weight. He urged, it was only of late years 
 that any real knowledge of the nature of explo- 
 sives was obtained. It was nearly four hundred 
 years after the discovery of gunpowder before 
 
1 82 ANNO DOMINI 200i). 
 
 any possible substitutes were invented. It 
 was again a long time before it was discovered 
 that explosives partook of two distinctly sepa- 
 rate characters. One was the quick or shatter- 
 ing compound producing instantaneous effect ; 
 the other was the slow or rending compound 
 of more protracted action. He dwelt on the 
 fact that in all cases the force yielded by 
 explosives was through the change of a solid 
 into a gaseous body, and that the volume of 
 the gaseous body was greatly increased by the 
 expansion consequent on the heat evolved 
 during decomposition. The total amount of 
 heat evolved during decomposition did not differ, 
 but evidently the concentration of heat at any 
 one time depended on the rapidity of the decom- 
 position. The volume of gas, independent of 
 expansion by heat, varied also with different 
 substances. Blasting oil, for instance, gave 
 nearly thirteen hundred times its own volume 
 of gas, and this was increased more than eight 
 times by the concentration of heat ; gunpowder 
 only yielded in gas expanded by heat eight 
 hundred times its own volume : or, in other 
 
AIR-CRUISERS. 183 
 
 words, the one yielded through decomposition 
 thirteen times the volume of the other. He went 
 on to argue that what was required was the 
 leisurely chemical decomposition of a solid into 
 a gas without sensibk explosion, and of such a 
 slow character as to avoid the production of great 
 heat. He referred, as an example of the change 
 resulting from the contact of two bodies, to 
 the effect of safety matches. The match would 
 only ignite by contact with a specially prepared 
 surface. This match was as great an improve- 
 ment on the old primitive match, as would be 
 a decomposing material the force of which 
 could be controlled, an improvement on the 
 present means of obtaining power. He ex- 
 pressed a positive opinion that substances could 
 be found whose rapidity of decomposition, and 
 consequent heat and strength, could be nicely 
 regulated, so that a force could be employed 
 which would not be too sudden nor too strong to 
 be used in substitution of steam or compressed 
 air. He was, moreover, of opinion that, instead 
 of the substances being mixed ready for use, with 
 the concurrent danger, a mode could be devised 
 
1 84 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 of bringing the diffcicnt component parts into 
 contact in a not dissimilar manner to the applica- 
 tion of the safety match, thereby assuring 
 absolute immunity from danger in the carriage 
 of the materials. This discovery could be 
 made, he went on to say ; and upon it depended 
 improvement in aerial travelling. Each fan 
 could be impelled by a separate machine, of a 
 light weight, worked with perfect safety by a 
 cheap material ; for the probabilities were, the 
 substance would be cheaply producible. Each 
 aerial vessel should carry three or four times 
 the nimiljer of separate fans and machinery 
 necessary to obtain buoyancy. The same sub- 
 stances probably could be used to procure 
 buoyancy m the improbable event of all the 
 machines breaking down. Supposing, as 
 he suspected would be the case, that the 
 resultant gas of the decomposition was lighter 
 than air, a hollow case of a strong elastic 
 fabric could be fastened to the whole of the 
 outside exposed surface of the machine ; and 
 this could be rapidly inflated by the use of the 
 same material. The movement of a button 
 
A IR- CR UISERS. \ 85 
 
 should be sufficienf to produce decomposition, 
 and as a consequence to charge the whole of 
 this casing with gas lighter than the air. As 
 the heat attending the decomposition subsided 
 the elastic fabric would sufficiently collapse. 
 The danger then would not be so much of 
 descending too rapidly through the atmosphere 
 as of remaining in it ; a difficulty, however, 
 which a system of valves would easily overcome. 
 The Institution offered twenty-five thousand 
 pounds for a discovery on the lines indicated ; 
 and the Government offered seventy-five thou- 
 sand pounds more on the condition that they 
 should have the right to purchase the invention 
 and preserve it as a secret, they supplying the 
 material for civil purposes, but retaining abso- 
 lute control over it for military purposes. This 
 proviso was inserted because of the opinion of 
 the writer that the effects he looked for might 
 not so much depend on the chemical composi- 
 tion of the substances as on their molecular 
 conditions, and that these might defy the efforts 
 of analysts. If he was wrong, and the nature 
 of the compound could be ascertained by 
 
i86 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 analysis, the Government need not buy the 
 invention ; they could leave the discoverer to 
 enjoy its advantages by patenting it, and share 
 with other nations the uses that could be made 
 of it for purposes of warfare. 
 
 It was some time before the investigations 
 were completely successful. There was no 
 lack of attention to the subject, the inducements 
 being so splendid. Many fatal accidents 
 occurred through the widely spread attention 
 given to the properties of explosives and to the 
 possibility of modifying their effects. On one 
 occasion it was thought that success was 
 attained. Laboratory experiments were entirely 
 satisfactory, and at length it was determined to 
 have a grand trial of the substance. A large 
 quantity was prepared, and it was applied to 
 the production of power in various descriptions 
 of machinery. Many distinguished people were 
 present, including a Cabinet Minister, a Lord of 
 the Admiralty, the Under-Secretary for Defence, 
 the President of the Inventors' Institution, 
 several members of Parliament, a dozen or more 
 distinguished men and women of science, and 
 
A IR- CR UISERS. 1 87 
 
 the inventor himself. The assemblage was a 
 brilliant one ; but, alas ! not one of those present 
 lived to record an opinion of the invention. The 
 substance discovered was evidently not wanting 
 in power. How far it was successful no one 
 ever learnt. It may have been faultily made or 
 injudiciously employed. But the very nature ol 
 the composition was lost, for the inventor went 
 with the rest. An explosion occurred ; and all 
 the men and women within the building were 
 scattered miles around, with fragments of th^ 
 edifice itself. The largest recognisable human 
 remains discovered were the well-defined joint 
 of a little finger. A great commotion followed. 
 The eminent chemist who wrote the paper sug- 
 gesting the discovery was covered with obloquy. 
 Suggestions were made that the law should 
 restrain such investigations. Some people went 
 so far as to describe them as diabolical. All 
 things, however, come to those who wait ; and 
 at length a discovery was made faithfully 
 resembling the one prognosticated by the 
 great chemist. 
 
 Strange to say, the inventor or discoverer was 
 
1 88 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 a young Jewish woman not yet thirty years 
 of age. From childhood she had taken an 
 intense interest in the question, and the terrible 
 accident above recorded seemed to spur her on 
 to furtiier exertion. She had a wonderful know- 
 ledge of ancient languages, and she searched 
 for information concerning chemical secrets 
 which she believed lost to the present day. 
 She had a notion that the atomic structure 
 of substances was better known to students in 
 the early ages. It was said that the hint she 
 acted on was conveyed to her by some passage 
 in a Chaldean inscription of great antiquity. She 
 neither admitted nor denied it. Perhaps the 
 susceptibilities of an intensely Eastern nature led 
 her to welcome the halo of romance cast over 
 her discovery. Be that as it may, it is certain 
 she discovered a substance, or rather substances 
 which, brought into contact with each other, 
 faithfully fulfilled all that the chemist had 
 ventured to suggest. Together with unwaver- 
 ing efficiency there was perfect safety; and so 
 much of the action depended on the structure, 
 not the composition, that the efforts of tliousands 
 
AIR-CRUISERS. 189 
 
 of savants failed to discover the secret of the 
 invention. What the substances were in com- 
 position, and what they became after decom- 
 position was easily determined, but how to 
 make them in a form that fulfilled the purpose 
 required defied every investigation. 
 
 The inventor did not patent her invention. 
 After making an enormous fortune from it, she 
 sold it to the Government, who took over the 
 manufactory and its secrets ; and whilst they 
 sold it in quantity for ordinary use, they 
 jealously guarded against its accumulation in 
 foreign countries for possible warlike purposes. 
 This invention, as much almost as its vast 
 naval and military forces, gave to the empire 
 of Britain the great power it possessed. 
 The United States alone affected to under- 
 rate that power. It was the habit of Americans 
 to declare that they did not believe in standing 
 armies or fleets. If they wanted to fight, they 
 could afford to spend any amount of treasure; 
 and they could do more in the way of organis- 
 ing than any nation in the world. They were 
 not going to spend money on keeping them- 
 
190 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 selves in readiness for what might never 
 happen. But we have not now to consider the 
 aerial ships from their warlike point of view. 
 It should be mentioned that the inventor of 
 this new form of power was the aunt of Colonel 
 Laurient. She died nearl}' twenty years 
 before this history, and left to him, her favourite 
 nephew, so much of her gigantic fortune as 
 the law permitted her to devise to one 
 inheritor. 
 
IX. 
 
 TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 
 
 A LITTLE after sunrise on a prematurely 
 ^ ^ early spring morning at the end of August 
 Lady Taieri's air- cruiser left Melbourne. There 
 was sufficient heat to make the southerly course 
 not too severe, and it was decided to call at 
 Stewart's Island to examine its vast fishery 
 establishments. A gay and happy party was 
 on board. Lord and Lady Taieri were genial, 
 lively people, and liked by a large circle of 
 friends. They loved nothing better than to 
 assemble around them pleasant companions, 
 and to entertain them with profuse hospitality. 
 No provision was wanting to amuse the party, 
 which consisted, besides the two Miss Fitz- 
 herberts, Lord Montreal, and Colonel Laurient, 
 of nearly twenty happy young people of both 
 
 13 
 
194 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 sexes. General and Lady BuUer also were 
 there. The General was the descendant of an 
 old New Zealand family which had acquired 
 immense wealth by turning to profitable use 
 large areas of pumice-stone land previously 
 supposed to be useless. 
 
 The Bullers were always scientifically dis- 
 posed ; and one lady of the family, a professor 
 of agricultural science, was convinced that the 
 pumice-stone land could be made productive. 
 It was not wanting in fertilising properties ; 
 but the difficulty was that on account of its 
 porous nature, it could not retain moisture. 
 Professor Buller first had numerous artesian 
 wells bored, and obtained at regular distances 
 an ample supply of water over a quarter of a 
 million of acres of pumice land, which she 
 purchased for two shillings an acre. After a 
 great many experiments, she devised a mixture 
 of soil, clay, and fertilising agents capable of 
 being held in water by suspension. She 
 drenched the land with the water thus mixed. 
 The pumice acted as a filter, retaining the 
 particles and filtering the water. As the land 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 195 
 
 dried it became less porous. Grass seed was 
 surface-sown. Another irrigation of the charged 
 water and a third, after some delay, of clear 
 water, completed the work. When once vegeta- 
 tion commenced, there was no difficulty. The 
 land was found particularly suitable for sub- 
 tropical fruits and for grapes. Vast fruit-can- 
 ning works were established ; and a special 
 effervescent wine known as Bullerite was pro- 
 duced, and was held in higher estimation than 
 the best champagne. Whilst more exhilarating, 
 it was less intoxicating. It fetched a very high 
 price, for it could be produced nowhere but on 
 redeemed pumice land. Not a little proud was 
 General Buller of his ancestor's achievement. 
 He was in the habit of declaring that he did not 
 care for the wealth he inherited in consequence ; 
 it was the genius that devised and carried out 
 the reclamation, he said, which was to him its 
 greatest glory. Nevertheless in practice he 
 did not seem to disregard the substantial 
 results he enjoyed. General Buller was a 
 soldier of great scientific attainments. His 
 only child, Phoebe, a beautiful girl of seventeen, 
 
196 ANNO DOMINI 2000 
 
 was with them. She was the object of admira- 
 tion of most of the young men on board, Lord 
 Montreal alone excepted. Beyond some con- 
 ventional civilities, he seemed unconscious of 
 the presence of any one but Maud Fitzherbert ; 
 and she was nothing reluctant to receive his 
 attentions. 
 
 The cruiser was beautifully constructed of 
 pure aluminium. Everything conducive to the 
 comfort of the passengers was provided. The 
 machinery was very powerful, and the cruiser 
 rose and fell with the grace and ease of a bird. 
 After clearing the land, it kept at about a height 
 of fift}' feet above the sea, and, without any 
 strain on the machinery, made easily a hundred 
 miles an hour. 
 
 About four o'clock in the afternoon a descent 
 was made on Stewart's Island. The fishing 
 establishments here were of immense extent 
 and value. They comprised not only huge 
 factories for tinning the fresh fish caught on 
 the banks to the south-east, but large estab- 
 lishments for dressing the seal-skins brought 
 from the far south, as also for sorting and 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 197 
 
 preparing for the market the stores of ivory 
 brought from near the Antarctic Pole, the 
 remnants of prehistoric animals which in the 
 regions of eternal cold had been preserved 
 intact for countless ages. 
 
 To New Zealand mainly belonged the credit 
 of Antarctic research. Commenced in the 
 interests of science, it soon became endowed 
 with permanent activity on account of its com- 
 mercial results. A large island, easily access- 
 ible, which received the name of Antarctica, 
 was discovered within ten degrees of the Pole, 
 stretching towards it, so that its southern point 
 was not more than ten miles from the southern 
 apex of the world. From causes satisfactorily 
 explained by scientists, the temperature within 
 a hundred-mile circle of the Pole was com- 
 paratively mild. There was no wind; and 
 although the cold was severe, it was bearable, 
 and in comparison with the near northern 
 latitudes it was pleasant. On this island an 
 extraordinary discovery was made. There 
 were many thousands of a race of human 
 beings whose existence was hitherto unsus- 
 
198 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 pected. The instincts of man for navigating 
 the ocean are well known. A famous scien- 
 tific authority, Sir Charles Lyell, once declared 
 that, if all the world excepting one remote 
 little island were left unpecipled, the people 
 of that island would spread themselves in 
 time over every portion of the earth's sur- 
 face. The Antarctic Esquimaux were evidently 
 of the same origin as the Kanaka race. They 
 spoke a language curiously little different from 
 the Maori dialect, although long centuries must 
 have elapsed since the migrating Malays, carried 
 to the south probably against their own will, 
 found a resting-place in Antarctica. Nature 
 had generously assimilated them to the wants 
 of the climate. Their faces and bodies were 
 covered with a thick growth of short curly 
 hair, which, though it detracted from their 
 beauty, greatly added to their comfort. They 
 were a docile, peaceful, intelligent people. They 
 loved to come up to Stewart's Island during 
 the winter and to return before the summer 
 made it too hot for them to exist, laden with 
 the presents which were always showered upon 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 199 
 
 them. They were too useful to the traders of 
 Stewart's Island not to receive consideration 
 at their hands. The seal-skins and the ivory 
 obtained from Antarctica were the finest in the 
 world, and the latter was procured in immense 
 quantities from the ice-buried remains of 
 animals long since extinct as a living race. 
 
 Lady Taieri's friends spent a most pleasant 
 two hours on the island. Some recent arrivals 
 from Antarctica were objects of great interest. 
 A young chief especially entertained them by 
 his description of the wonders of Antarctica 
 and his unsophisticated admiration of the 
 novelties around him. He appeared to be 
 particularly impressed with Phoebe BuUer. 
 The poor girl blushed very much ; and her 
 companions were highly amused when the 
 interpreter told them that the young chief 
 said she would be very good-looking if her face 
 was covered with hair, and that he would be 
 willing to take her back with him to Antarctica. 
 Lady Taieri proposed that they should all 
 visit the island and be present at the wedding. 
 This sally was too much. Phcebe Buller 
 
200 aatjVO boa/INI 2000. 
 
 retired to her cabin on the cruiser, and was not 
 seen again until the well-lighted farms and 
 residences on the beautiful Taieri plains, be- 
 neath the flying vessel, reminded its occupants 
 that they were close to their destination. 
 
 During the next six days Lady Taieri gave 
 a series of magnificent entertainments. There 
 were dances, dinner-parties, picnics, a visit 
 to the glacier region of Mount Cook, and finally 
 a ball in Dunedin of unsurpassed splendour. 
 This was on the eve of the opening of the 
 liver-works; and all the authorities of Welling- 
 ton, including the Governor and his Ministers, 
 honoured the ball with their presence. 
 
 An account of the river-works will not be 
 unacceptable. So long since as 1863 it was 
 discovered that the river Molyneux, or Clutha 
 as it was sometimes called, contained over a 
 great length rich gold deposits. More or less 
 considerable quantities of the precious metal 
 were obtained from time to time when the 
 river was unusually low. But at no time was 
 much of the banks and parts adjacent thereto 
 uncovered. Dredging was resorted to, and 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 201 
 
 a great deal of gold obtained ; but it was 
 pointed out that the search in that manner was 
 something like the proverbial exploration for 
 a needle in a haystack. A great scientist, Sir 
 Julius Von Haast, declared that during the 
 glacial period the mountains adjacent to the 
 valley of the Molyneux were ground down by 
 the action of glaciers from an average height 
 of several thousand feet. Every ounce of the 
 pulverised matter must have passed through 
 the valley drained by the river ; and he made 
 a calculation which showed that, if the stuff 
 averaged a grain to the ton, there must be 
 in the interstices of the river bed many thou- 
 sands of tons of gold. 
 
 Nearly fifty years before the period of this 
 history the grandfather of Hilda and Maud 
 Fitzherbert set himself seriously to unravel the 
 problem. His design was to deepen the bed of 
 the Mataura river, running through Southland, 
 and to make an outlet to it from Lake Whakatip. 
 Simultaneously he proposed to close the outlet 
 from the lake into tlie Molyneux and, by the 
 aid of other channels, cut at different parts of 
 
202 AJVNO DOMINI 200i) 
 
 the river to divert the tributary streams, to 
 lay bare and clear from water fully fifty miles 
 of the river bed between Lake Whakatip 
 and the Dunstan. It was an enormous work. 
 The cost alone of obtaining the various ripa- 
 rian and residential rights absorbed over two 
 millions sterling. Twice, too, were the works 
 on the point of completion, and twice were 
 they destroyed by floods and storms. 
 
 Mr. Fitzherbert had to take several partners, 
 and his own enormous fortune was nearly dissi- 
 pated. He had lost his son and his son's wife 
 when his grandchildren, Hilda and Maud, were 
 of tender age. After his death the two girls 
 found a letter from him in which he told them 
 he had settled on each of them three thousand 
 pounds a year and left to them jointly his house 
 and garden near Dunedin, with the furniture, 
 just as they had always lived in it. Beyond this 
 comparatively inconsiderable bequest, he wrote, 
 he had devoted everything to the completion 
 of the great work of his life. It was certain 
 now that the river would be uncovered ; and 
 if he was right in his expectations, they would 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 203 
 
 become enormously wealthy. If it should prove 
 he was wrong, " which," he continued, " I con- 
 sider impossible, you will not think unkindly 
 of the old grandfather whose dearest hope it 
 was to make you the richest girls in the world." 
 The time had come when these works, upon 
 which so much energy had been expended, and 
 which had been fruitful of so many disappoint- 
 ments, were to be finished ; and a great deal 
 of curiosity as to the result was felt in every 
 part of the Empire. Hilda and Maud Fitz- 
 herbert had two and a half tenths each of the 
 undertaking, and Montreal and his younger 
 brother had each one tenth, which they had 
 inherited, but it was understood that Montreal 
 had parted with his own share to Colonel 
 Laurient ; two tenths were reserved for 
 division amongst those people whose riparian 
 and other rights Mr. Filzherbert had originally 
 purchased ; and of the remaining tenth one half 
 was the property of Sir Central Vincent Stout, 
 Baronet, a young though very able lawyer, the 
 other half belonged to Lord Larnach, one of the 
 wealthiest private bankers in the Empire. There 
 
204 ANA^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 was by no means unanimity of opinion con- 
 cerning the result of the works. Some people 
 held, they would prove a total failure, and 
 that the money spent on them had been wasted 
 by visionary enthusiasts ; others thought, a 
 moderate amount of gold might be obtained ; 
 while very few shared the sanguine expecta- 
 tions which had led old Fitzherbert to com- 
 placently spend the huge sums he had devoted 
 to his life's ideal. And now the result of fifty 
 years of toil and anxiety was to be decided. 
 It was an exceptionally fine day, and thousands 
 of people from all parts of New Zealand 
 thronged to the ceremony. Some preferred 
 watching the river Molyneux subside as the 
 waters gradually ran out ; others considered 
 the grander sight to be the filling of the new 
 channel of the Mataura river. 
 
 It had been arranged that two small levers 
 pressed by a child would respectively have the 
 effect of opening the gates that barred the new 
 channel to the Mataura and of closing the 
 gates that admitted the lake waters to the 
 Molyneux. As the levers were pressed a 
 
TOO STRANGE IVOT TO BE TRUE. 205 
 
 signal was to run down the two rivers, in 
 response to which guns stationed at frequent 
 intervals were to thunder out a salute. 
 
 Precisely at twelve the loud roar of artillery 
 announced the transfer of the waters. Un- 
 doubtedly the grander sight was on the Mataura 
 river. The progress of the liberated water as 
 it rushed onward in a great seething, foaming, 
 swirling mass, gleaming under the bright rays 
 of the sun, formed a picture not easily to be 
 forgotten. But the other river attracted more 
 attention, for there not only nature played a 
 part, but the last scene was to be enacted in 
 a drama of great human interest. And this 
 scene was more slowly progressing. The sub- 
 sidence of the water was not very quick. The 
 Molyneux was a quaint, many-featured river, 
 partly fed by melted snow, partly by large 
 surface drainage, both finding their way to the 
 river through the lake, and by independent 
 tributaries. At times the Molyneux was of 
 great volume and swiftness. On the present 
 occasion it was on moderate terms — neither at 
 its slowest nor fastest. But as the river flowed 
 
2o6 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 on without its usual accession from the lake 
 and the diverted tributaries, an idealist might 
 have fancied that it was fading away through 
 grief at the desertion of its allies. Lady 
 Taieri's party were located on a dais erected 
 on the banks of the river about twenty miles 
 from the lake. After an hour or so the 
 subsidence of the water became well marked ; 
 and occasionally heaps of crushed quartz, called 
 tailings, from gold workings on the banks, 
 became visible. Some natural impediments 
 had prevented these from flowing down the 
 river and built them up several feet in height. 
 Here and there crevices, deep and narrow or 
 shallow and wide, became apparent. 
 
 The time was approaching when it would be 
 known if there was utter failure or entire 
 success or something midway between. It 
 had been arranged that, if any conspicuous 
 deposit of gold became apparent, a signal 
 should be given, in response to which all the 
 guns along the river banks should be fired. 
 
 At a quarter past one o'clock the guns pealed 
 forth ; and loud as was the noise they made, it 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 207 
 
 seemed trifling compared with the cheers which 
 ran up and down the river from both banks 
 from the throats of the countless thousands of 
 spectators. The announcement of success 
 occasioned almost delirious joy. It seemed as 
 if every person in the vast crowd had an in- 
 dividual interest in the undertaking. The 
 telephone soon announced that at a turn in the 
 river about seven miles from the lake what 
 appeared to be a large pool of fine gold was 
 uncovered. Even as the news became circulated 
 there appeared in the middle of the river right 
 opposite Lady Taieri's stand a faint yellow 
 glow beneath the water. Gradually it grew 
 brighter and brighter, until at length to the eyes 
 of the fascinated beholders there appeared a 
 long, irregular fissure of about twenty-five 
 feet in length by about six or seven in width 
 which appeared to be filled with gold. Some 
 of the company now rushed forward, and, 
 amidst the deafening cheers of the onlookers, 
 dug out into boxes which had been prepared 
 for the purpose shovelsful of gold. Fresh 
 boxes were sent for, but the gold appeared 
 
2o8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 to be inexhaustible. Each box held five thou- 
 sand ounces ; and supposing the gold to be 
 nearly pure, fifty boxes would represent the 
 value of a million sterling. , 
 
 Five hundred boxes were filled, and still the 
 pool opposite Hilda was not emptied, and it 
 was reported two equally rich receptacles were 
 being drained in other parts. Guards of the 
 Volunteer forces were told off to protect the 
 gold until it could be placed in safety. 
 
 Hilda and Maud were high-minded, generous 
 girls, with nothing of a sordid nature in their 
 composition ; but they were human, and what 
 human being could be brought into contact 
 with the evidence of the acquisition of such 
 vast wealth without feelings of quickened, vivid 
 emotion ? It is only justice to them to say 
 that their feelings were not in the nature of 
 a sense of personal gratification so much as 
 one of ecstatic pleasure at the visions of the 
 enormous power for good which this wealth 
 would place in their hands. Every one 
 crowded round with congratulations. As 
 Colonel Laurient joined the throng Hilda said 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE 209 
 
 to him, "Why should I not equally congratu- 
 late you ? You share the gold with us." 
 
 "Do I?" he said, with his inscrutable 
 smile. "1 had forgotten." 
 
 Lord Montreal, with a face in which every 
 vestige of colour was wanting, gravely con- 
 gratulated Hilda, then, turning to her sister, 
 said in a voice the agitation of which he could 
 not conceal, ''No one, Miss Maud, more 
 warmly congratulates you or more fervently 
 wishes you happiness." 
 
 Before the astonished girl could reply he 
 had left the scene. It may safely be said that 
 Maud now bitterly regretted the success of the 
 works. She understood that Montreal, a poor 
 man, was too proud to owe to any woman 
 enormous wealth. - What can I do with 
 It ? How can I get rid of it ? " she wailed 
 to Hilda, who in a moment took in the 
 situation. 
 
 "Maud dearest," she said, " control your- 
 self. All will be well." And she led her 
 sister off the dais into the cruiser, in which 
 they returned to Lady Taieri's house. They 
 
 14 
 
210 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 met Montreal in the gallery leading to their 
 apartments. He bowed gravely. 
 
 Maud could not restrain herself. " You will 
 kill me, Montreal," she said. " What do I care 
 for wealth ? " 
 
 " Maud, you would not have me sacrifice 
 my self-respect," he said, and passed on. 
 
 He seemed almost unconscious where he 
 was going. He was roused from his bitter 
 reverie. 
 
 " Colonel Laurient will be greatly obliged if 
 you will go to him at once," said a servant. 
 
 " Show me to his room," replied Montreal 
 briefly. 
 
 " Laurient," said Montreal, '* believe me, I 
 am not jealous of your good fortune." 
 
 " My good fortune ! " said Laurient. " I do 
 not know of anything very good. I always 
 felt sure that you would pay me what you 
 owe me." 
 
 " Pay you what I owe you ! " said Montreal, 
 in a voice of amazement. 
 
 " Yes," replied Laurient. " You know that 
 I come of a race of money-lenders, and I have 
 
TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE. 211 
 
 sent for you to ask you for my money and 
 interest." 
 
 But Montreal was too sad to understand a 
 joke ; and Laurient had noticed what passed 
 with Maud, and formed a shrewd conjecture 
 that the gold had not made either of them 
 happy. 
 
 " Listen to me," he continued. " It is three 
 years since you came to me and asked me to 
 buy your share in the Molyneux works, as 
 you had need of the money. I replied by 
 asking what you wanted for your interest. 
 You named a sum much below what I thought 
 its value — a belief which to-day's results have 
 proved to be correct. I am not in the habit 
 of acquiring anything from a friend in distress 
 at less than its proper value, and I was about 
 to say so when I thought, ' I will lend this 
 money on the security offered. I will not 
 worry Montreal by letting him think that he is 
 in debt and has to find the interest every 
 half-year. There is quite sufficient margin for 
 interest and principal too ; and when the gold 
 is struck, he will repay me.' I made this 
 
212 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 arrangement apparent in my will and by the 
 execution of a deed of trust. I'he share is 
 still yours, and out of the first money you 
 receive you can repay me. Nay," he said, 
 stopping Montreal's enthusiastic thanks. " I 
 said I was a money-lender. Here is a memo- 
 randum of the interest, and you will see each 
 year 1 have charged interest on the previous 
 arrears — perfect usury. Go, my dear boy. 
 I hate thanks, and I do not want money." 
 
 Montreal could not control himself to speak. 
 Two minutes afterwards he was in Hilda and 
 Maud's sitting-room. " Forgive me, Maud 
 darling ! I have the share. I thought I had 
 lost it," he said incoherently ; but he made his 
 meaning clear by the unmistakable caress of a 
 lover. 
 
 Hilda left the room — an example the his- 
 torian must follow. 
 
X. 
 
 LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 
 
 " I ^HE following telegram reached Hilda next 
 -*- morning : " I heartily congratulate you, 
 dear Hilda, on the success of your grand- 
 father's great undertaking. The Emperor 
 summoned me and desired me to send you his 
 congratulations. I am also to say that he 
 wishes as a remarkable event of his reign to 
 show his approval of the patience, skill, and 
 enterprise combined in the enormous works 
 successfully concluded yesterday. The honour 
 is to come to you as your grandfather's 
 representative. Besides that, on account of your 
 noble deed last week he wished to raise you to 
 the peerage. He will now raise you to the 
 rank of duchess, and suggests the title of 
 Duchess of New Zealand ; but that of course is 
 
2i6 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 as you wish. You must, my dear, accept it. 
 A duchess cannot be an under-secretary, and 
 I am not wilHng to lose you. Mr. Hazelmere 
 has repeated his wish to resign ; and I now 
 beg you to enter the Cabinet as Lord President 
 of the Board of Education, a position for 
 which your acquirements peculiarly fit you. 
 Your re-election to Parliament will be a mere 
 ceremony. Make a speech to your constituents 
 in Dunedin. Then take the waters at Roto- 
 mahana and Waiwera. In two months you can 
 join us in London, where the next session of 
 Parliament will be held. You will be quite 
 recovered from all your fatigue by then." 
 
 In less than two weeks Hilda, Duchess of 
 New Zealand, was re-elected to Parliament by 
 her Dunedin constituents. Next day she left 
 for Rotomahana with a numerous party of 
 friends who were to be her guests. She had 
 engaged the entire accommodation of one of 
 the hotels. 
 
 Maud and Hilda before they left Dunedin 
 placed at the disposal of the Mayor half a 
 million sterling to be handed to a properly 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 2iy 
 
 constituted trust for the purpose of encourag- 
 ing mining pursuits, and developing mining 
 undertakings. 
 
 New Zealand was celebrated for the wonder- 
 fully curative power of its waters. At 
 Rotomahana, Te Aroha, and Waiwera in the 
 North Island, and at Hammer Plains and 
 several other localities in the Middle Island 
 innumerable springs, hot and cold, existed, pos- 
 sessing a great variety of medicinal properties. 
 There was scarcely a disease for which the 
 waters of New Zealand did not possess either 
 cure or alleviation. At one part of the colony 
 or another these springs were in use the whole 
 year round. People flocked to them from all 
 quarters of the world. It was estimated that 
 the year previous to the commencement of 
 this history, more than a million people 
 visited the various springs. Rotomahana, Te 
 Aroha, and Waiwera were particularly pleasant 
 during the months of October, November, and 
 December. Hilda proposed passing nearly 
 three weeks at each. Rotomahana was a city 
 of hotels of all sizes and descriptions. Some 
 
ai8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 were constructed to hold only a comparatively 
 few guests and to entertain them on a scale of 
 great magnificence. Every season these houses 
 were occupied by distinguished visitors. Not 
 infrequently crowned heads resorted to them 
 for relief from the maladies from which even 
 royalty is not exempt. Others of the hotels 
 were of great size, capable indeed of accom- 
 modating several thousands of visitors. The 
 Grandissimo Hotel comfortably entertained 
 five thousand people. Most of the houses 
 were built of ground volcanic scoria, pressed 
 into bricks. Some of them were constructed 
 of Oamaru stone, dressed with a peculiar 
 compound that at the same time hardened 
 and gave it the appearance of marble. The 
 house that Hilda took appeared like a solid 
 block of Carrara marble, relieved with huge 
 glass windows and with balconies constructed 
 of gilt aluminium. Balconies of plain or gilt 
 aluminium adorned most of the hotels, and gave 
 them a very pretty appearance. Te Aroha was 
 a yet larger city than Rotomahana, as, besides 
 its use as a health resort, it was the central 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 219 
 
 town of an extensive and rich mining district. 
 Waiwera was on a smaller scale, but in point 
 of appearance the most attractive. Who 
 indeed could do justice to thy charms, sweet 
 Waiwera? A splendid beach of sand, upon 
 which at short intervals two picturesque rivers 
 debouched to the sea, surrounded with wooded 
 heights of all degrees of altitude, and with 
 many variations in the colour of the foliage, it 
 is not to be wondered at that persons managed 
 in this charming scene to forget the world and 
 to reveal whatever of poetry lay dormant in 
 their composition. Few who visited Waiwera 
 did not sometimes realise the sentiment — 
 
 " I love not man the less, but nature more." 
 
 Hilda had duly passed through the Rotoma- 
 hana and Te Aroha cures, and she had been a 
 week at Waiwera, when one morning two 
 hours after sunrise, as she returned from her 
 bath, she was delighted at the receipt of the 
 following letter, signed by Mrs. Hardinge : 
 " I have prepared a surprise for you, dearest 
 Hilda. Mr. Decimus has lent me his yacht. 
 
220 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 and I am ready to receive you on board. Come 
 off at once by yourself. We can talk over 
 many things better here than on shore." 
 
 A beautifully appointed yacht lay in the 
 offing six hundred yards from the shore, and 
 a well-manned boat was waiting to take Hilda 
 on board. She flew to her room, completed 
 her toilet, and in ten minutes was on the boat 
 and rowing off to the yacht. She ascended the 
 companion ladder, and was received on deck 
 by a young officer, "I am to ask your 
 Grace to wait a few minutes," he said. 
 Hilda gazed round the entrancing view on 
 sea, land, and river, beaming beneath a bright 
 and gorgeous sun, forgetting everything but 
 the sense of the loveliness around her. She 
 could never tell how long she was so absorbed. 
 She aroused herself with a start to feel the 
 vessel moving and to see before her the dreaded 
 figure of Lord Reginald Paramatta. 
 
 Meanwhile the spectators on the shore were 
 amazed to see Hilda go off to the yacht alone, 
 and the vessel weigh anchor and steam away 
 swiftl}'. Maud and Lad}' Taieri, returning 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 221 
 
 from their baths along the beautiful avenue of 
 trees, were speedily told of the occurrence, and 
 a council rapidly held with Laurient and Mont- 
 real. Mrs. Hardinge's letter was found in 
 Hilda's room. 
 
 " Probably," said Lady Taieri, "the morn- 
 ing is so fine that Mrs. Hardinge is taking 
 the Duchess for a cruise while they talk 
 together." 
 
 '4 do not think so," said the Colonel. " Look 
 at the speed the vessel is making. They would 
 not proceed at such a rate if a pleasant sail 
 were the only object. She is going at the 
 rate of thirty miles an hour." 
 
 Maud started with surprise, and again 
 glanced. at the letter, "You are right, Colonel 
 Laurient," she said, with fearful agitation ; 
 " this writing is like that of Mrs. Hardinge, 
 but it is not hers. I know her writing too 
 well not to be sure it is an imitation. Oh, 
 help Hilda ; do help her ! Montreal, you must 
 aid. She is the victim of a plot." 
 
 Meanwhile the vessel raced on ; but with a 
 powerful glass they could make out that there 
 
222 ANNO DOM TNI 2000. 
 
 was only one female figure on board, and that 
 a male figure stood beside her. 
 
 " Hilda," said Lord Reginald, bowing low, 
 " forgive me. All is fair in love and war. My 
 life without you is a misery." 
 
 " Do you think, my lord," said the girl, very 
 pale but still courageous, " that this course 
 you have adopted is one that will commend 
 you to my liking ? " 
 
 " I will teach you to love me. You cannot 
 remain unresponsive to the intense affection I 
 bear you." 
 
 " True love, Lord Reginald, is not steeped in 
 selfishness ; it has regard for the happiness of 
 its object. Do you think you can make me 
 happy by tearing me from my friends by an 
 artifice like this ? " 
 
 " I will make it up to you. I implore your 
 forgiveness. Try to excuse me." 
 
 Hilda during this rapid dialogue did npt lose 
 her self-possession. She knew the fears of her 
 friends on shore would soon be aroused. She 
 wondered at her own want of suspicion. Time, 
 she felt, was everything. When once doubt 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 223 
 
 was aroused, pursuit in the powerful aerial 
 cruiser they had on shore would be rapid. 
 
 " I entreat you, Lord Reginald," she said, 
 "to turn back. Have pity on me. See how de- 
 fenceless I am against such a conspiracy as this." 
 
 Lord Reginald was by nature brave, and the 
 wretched cheat he was playing affected him 
 more because of its cowardly nature than 
 by reason of its outrageous turpitude. He was 
 a slave to his passions and desires. He would 
 have led a decently good life if all his wishes 
 were capable of gratification, but there was no 
 limit to the wickedness of which he might be 
 guilty in the pursuit of desires he could not 
 satisfy. He either was, or fancied himself to be, 
 desperately in love with Hilda; and he believed, 
 though without reason, that she had to some 
 extent coquetted with him. Even in despite 
 of reason and evidence to the contrary, 
 he imagined she felt a prepossession in his 
 favour, that an act of bravery like this might 
 stir into love. He did not sufficiently under- 
 stand woman. To his mind courage was the 
 highest human quality, and he thought an 
 
224 AiVJVO DOMINI 20i)0. 
 
 exhibition of signal bravery even at the 
 expense of the woman entrapped by it would 
 find favour in her eyes. Hilda's words 
 touched him keenly, though in some measure 
 he thought they savoured of submission. 
 " She is imploring now," he thought, " instead 
 of commanding." 
 
 " Ask me," he said, in a tone of exceeding 
 gentleness, " anything but to turn back. O 
 Hilda, you can do with me what you like if 
 you will only consent to command ! " 
 
 " Leave me then," she replied, " for a time. 
 Let me think over my dreadful position." 
 
 " I will leave you for a quarter of an hour, 
 but do not say the position is dreadful." 
 
 He walked away, and the girl was left the 
 solitary occupant of the deck. The beautiful 
 landscape was still in sight. It seemed a 
 mockery that all should appear the same as 
 3'esterday, and she in such dreadful misery. 
 Smaller and smaller loomed the features on 
 the shore as the wretched girl mused on. 
 Suddenly a small object appeared to mount 
 in the air. 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. 225 
 
 " It is the cruiser," she exclaimed aloud, 
 with delight. " They are in pursuit." 
 
 "No, Hilda," said Lord Reginald, who 
 suddenly appeared at her side, " I do not 
 think it is the cruiser ; and if it be, it can 
 render you no aid. Look round this vessel ; 
 you will observe guns at every degree of 
 elevation. No cruiser can approach us without 
 instant destruction." 
 
 " But you would not be guilty of such 
 frightful wickedness. Lord Reginald, let nie 
 think better of you. Relent. Admit that you 
 did not sufficiently reflect on what you were 
 doing, and that you are ready to make the 
 only reparation in your power." 
 
 " No," said Lord Reginald, much moved, 
 " I cannot give you up. Ask me for any- 
 thing but that. See ! you are right ; the 
 cruiser is following us. It is going four miles 
 to our one. Save the tragedy that must ensue. 
 I have a clergyman in the cabin yonder, 
 Marr}'' me at once, and your friends shall come 
 on board and congratulate you as Lady Para- 
 matta." 
 
 15 
 
226 AALVO DOMINI 2000 
 
 " That I will never be. I would prefer to 
 face death." 
 
 " Is it so bitter a lot ?" said Lord Reginald, 
 stung into irritation. " If persuasion is use- 
 less, I must insist. Come to the cabin with 
 me at once." 
 
 "Dare you affect to command me?" said 
 Hilda, drawing herself up with a dignity that 
 was at once grave and pathetic. 
 
 " I will dare everything for you. It is use- 
 less," he said as she waved her handkerchief 
 to the fast-approaching cruiser. " If it come 
 too close, its doom is sealed. Be ready to fire," 
 he roared out to the captain ; and brief, stern 
 words were passed from end to end of the 
 vessel. " Now, Hilda, come. The scene is 
 not one ht for you. Come you shall," he 
 said, approaching her and placing his arm 
 round her waist. 
 
 " Never ! I would rather render my soul to 
 God," exclaimed the brave, excited girl. 
 
 With one spring she stood on the rail of the 
 bulwarks, and with another leapt far out into 
 the ocean. Lord Reginald gazed on her in 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIN. zij 
 
 speechless horror, and was about to follow 
 overboard. 
 
 " It is useless," the captain said, restraining 
 him. " The boat will save her." 
 
 In two minutes it was lowered, but such was 
 the way on the yacht that the girl floating on 
 the water was already nearly a mile distant. 
 The cruiser and the boat raced to meet her. 
 The yacht's head also was turned ; and she 
 rapidly approached the scene, nring at the 
 cruiser as she did so. The latter reached 
 Hilda first. Colonel Laurient jumped into the 
 water, and caught hold of the girl. The beat 
 was near enough for one of its occupants 
 with a boathook to strike him a terrible blow 
 on the arm. The disabled limb fell to his 
 side, but he held her with iron strength 
 with his other arm. The occupants of the 
 cruiser dragged them both on board ; and 
 Colonel Laurient before he fainted away 
 had just time to cry out, " Mount into the 
 air, and fly as fast as you can." The 
 scene that followed was tragical. T^\o of 
 the occupants of the boat had grasped the 
 
228 ANNO DOMINI -JOOO. 
 
 sides of the cruiser, and were carried aloft 
 with it. Before they could be dragged on 
 board a shut from the yacht struck them 
 both, and crushed in part of the side of the 
 vessel, besides injuring many sets of fans. 
 Another shot did damage on the opposite side. 
 But still she rose, and to aid her buoyancy the 
 casing was inflated. Soon she was out of 
 reach of the yacht ; and, with less speed than 
 she left it, she returned to Waiwera. The 
 yacht turned round, and steamed out to sea at 
 full speed. 
 
 Hilda's immersion did her no harm, but her 
 nerves were much shaken, and for many days 
 she feared to be left alone. Colonel Laurient's 
 arm was dreadfully shattered. The doctor at 
 first proposed amputation, but the Colonel 
 sternly rejected the suggestion. With consider- 
 able skill it was set, and in a few days the 
 doctors announced that the limb was saved. 
 Colonel Laurient, however, was very ill. For a 
 time, indeed, even his life was in danger. He 
 suffered from more than the wounded arm. 
 Perhaps the anxiety during the dreadful pursuit 
 
LORD REGINALD AGAIAL 229 
 
 as to what might be happening on board the 
 yacht had something to do with it. 
 
 Hilda was untiring in her attention to 
 Laurient ; no sister could have nursed him 
 more tenderly, and indeed it was as a sister she 
 felt for him. 
 
 One afternoon, as he lay pale and weak, but 
 convalescent, on a sofa by the window, gazing 
 out at the sea, Hilda entered the room with a 
 cup of soup and a glass of bullerite. " You 
 must take this,", she said. 
 
 " I will do anything you tell me," he rephed, 
 "if only in acknowledgment of your infinite 
 kindness." 
 
 " Why should you talk of kindness ? " said 
 the girl, with tears in her eyes. " Can I ever 
 repay you for what you have done ? " 
 
 "Yes, Hilda, you could repay me; but 
 indeed there is nothing to repay, for I suffered 
 more than you did during that terrible time 
 of uncertainty." 
 
 The girl looked very sad. The Colonel 
 marked her countenance, and over his own 
 there came a look of weariness and despair. 
 
230 AATA^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 But he was brave still, as he always was. 
 " Hilda, dearest Hilda," he said, " I will not 
 put a question to you that I know you cannot 
 answer as I would wish ; it would only pain 
 3'ou and stand in the way perhaps of the 
 sisterly affection 3'ou bear for me. I am not 
 one to sa}' all or nothing. The sense of your 
 presence is a consolation to me. No, I will 
 not ask 3'ou. You know my heart, and I know 
 yours. Your destiny will be a higher and 
 happier one than that of the wife of a simple 
 soldier." 
 
 " Hush ! " she said. " Ambition has no place 
 in my heart. Be always a brother to me. 
 You can be to me no more." And she flew 
 from the room. 
 
XI. 
 
 GRATEFUL IRELAND. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GRATEFUL IRELAND. 
 
 A T the end of October Maud was married 
 ■^ ^ from the house of the two sisters in 
 Dunedin. No attribute of wealth and pomp 
 was wanting to make the wedding a grand one. 
 Both Maud and Montreal were general favour- 
 ites, and the number and value of the presents 
 they received were unprecedented. Hilda gave 
 her sister a suite of diamonds and one of pearls, 
 each of priceless value. One of the most 
 gratifying gifts was from the Emperor ; it was 
 a small miniature on ivory of Hilda, beautiful!}' 
 set in a diamond bracelet. It was painted by 
 a celebrated artist. The Emperor had specially 
 requested the Duchess to sit for it immediately 
 Maud's engagement became known. It was 
 surmised that the artist had a commission to 
 paint a copy as well as the original. 
 
234 ANNO DOMINI 2(i00. 
 
 Immediately after the wedding Lord and 
 Lady Montreal left in an air-cruiser to pass 
 their honeymoon in Canada, and the Duchess 
 of New Zealand at once proceeded to London, 
 where she was rapturously received by Mrs. 
 Hardinge. She reached London in time to be 
 present at its greatest yearl}^ fete, the Lord 
 Mayor's Show, on the 9th November. Accord- 
 ing to old chronicles, there was a time when 
 these annual shows were barbarous exhibitions 
 of execrable taste, suitably accompanied with 
 scenes of coarse vulgarity. All this had long 
 since changed. The annual Lord Mayor's 
 Show had become a real work of elaborated 
 art. Either it was made to represent some 
 particular event, some connected thread of 
 history, or some classical author's works. For 
 example, there had been a close and accurate 
 representation of Queen Victoria's Jubilee pro- 
 cession, again a series of tableaux depicting 
 the life of the virtuous though unhappy Mary 
 Queen of Scots, a portrayal of Shakespeare's 
 heroes and heroines, and a copy of the proces- 
 sion that celebrated the establishment of local 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 235 
 
 government in Ireland. The present year was 
 devoted to a representation of all the kings and 
 queens of England up to the proclamation of 
 the Empire. It began with the " British warrior 
 queen," Boadicea, and ended with the grand- 
 father of the present Emperor. Each monarch 
 was represented with his or her retinue in the 
 exact costumes of the respective periods. No 
 expense was spared on these shows. They 
 were generall}' monumental works of research 
 and activity, and were in course of preparation 
 for several years. 
 
 In many respects London still continued to 
 be the greatest city of the Empire. Its 
 population was certainly the largest, and no 
 other place could compare with it in the pos- 
 session of wealthy inhabitants. But wealth 
 was unequall}' distributed. Although there 
 were more people than elsewhere enjoying 
 great riches, the aggregate possessions were 
 not as large in proportion to the population as 
 in other cities, such as Melbourne, Sydney, and 
 Dublin. The Londoners were luxurious to the 
 verge of effeminacy. A door left open, a draught 
 
236 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 at a theatre, were considered to seriously reflect 
 on the moral character of the persons respon- 
 sible for the same. A servant summarily 
 dismissed for neglecting to close a door could 
 not recover any arrears of wages due to him or 
 her. Said a great lady once to an Australian 
 gentleman, "Are not these easterly winds 
 dreadful ? I hope 3'ou have nothing of the kind 
 in your charming country." 
 
 " We have colder winds than those you have 
 from the east," he replied. " We have blasts 
 direct from the South Pole, and we enjo}^ them. 
 My lad}', we would not be what we are," 
 drawing himself up, " if the extremes of heat 
 and cold were distasteful to us." 
 
 She looked at him with something of curiosity 
 mixed with envy. 
 
 " You are right," she said. " It is a manly 
 philosophy to endeavour to enjoy that which 
 cannot be remedied." 
 
 The use of coal and gas having long since 
 been abandoned in favour of heat and light 
 from electricity, the buildings in London had 
 lost their begrimed appearance, and the old 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 27^^ 
 
 dense fogs had disappeared. A city of magnifi- 
 cent buildings, almost a city of palaces, London 
 might be termed. Where there used to be 
 rookeries for the poor there were now splendid 
 edifices of many stories, with constant self-acting 
 elevators. It was the same with regard to resi- 
 dence as with food and clothing. The comforts 
 of life were not denied to people of humble 
 means. 
 
 Parliament was opened with much pomp 
 and magnificence, and a mysterious allusion, 
 in the speech from the throne, to large fiscal 
 changes proposed, excited much attention. 
 The Budget was delivered at an early date 
 amidst intense excitement, which turned into un- 
 restrained delight when its secrets were revealed. 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right 
 Honourable Gladstone Churchill, examined 
 critically the state of the finances, the 
 enormous accumulations of the reserve funds 
 all over the dominions, and the continued 
 increase of income from the main sources of 
 revenue. "The Government," he said, "are 
 convinced thf time has come to make material 
 
238 A.XA'O DOMINI -iOOO. 
 
 reductions in the taxation. Ihey propose 
 that the untaxable niininunn nf income shall 
 be increased from five to six hundred jxiunds, 
 and the untaxable minimum of succession 
 value from ten to twelve thousand pounds, 
 and that, instead of a fourth of the residue 
 in each case reverting to the State, a fifth 
 shall be substituted." Then he showed by 
 figures and calculations that not only was 
 the relief justifiable, but that further relief 
 might be expected in the course of a few years. 
 He only made one exception to the proposed 
 reductions. Incomes derived from foreign 
 loans and the capital value of such loans were 
 still to be subject to the present taxation. 
 Foreign loans, he said, were mischievous in 
 more than one respect. 1 hey armed foreign 
 nations, necessitating greater expense to the 
 British Empire in consequence. They also 
 created hybrid subjects of the Empire, with 
 sympathies divided between their own country 
 and foreign countries. There was room for the 
 expenditure of incalculable millions on important 
 works within the Empire, and those who pre- 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 239 
 
 ferred to place their means abroad must 
 contribute in greater proportion to the cost ol^ 
 government at home. They had not, he de- 
 clared, any prejudice against foreign countries. 
 It was better for them and for Britain that each 
 country should attend to its own interests and 
 its own people. Probably no Budget had been 
 received with so much acclamation since that in 
 which the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared 
 the policy of the Empire to be one of severe pro- 
 tection to the industries of its vast dominions. 
 
 Singularly, it was Lord Gladstone Churchill, 
 great-grandfather of the present Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer, who made the announcement, 
 seventy years previously, that the time had 
 arrived for abandoning the free trade which 
 however he admitted had been of benefit to the 
 parent country prior to federation. 
 
 The proposed fiscal reforms were rapidly 
 confirmed ; and Parliament rose towards the 
 middle of December, in time to allow members 
 to be present at the great annual fete in Dublin. 
 We have already described how it was that 
 the federation of the Empire, including local 
 
240 ANNO DOMINI 2(HiO. 
 
 governint'iit in Ireland, was brought about 
 by the intervention of the Colonies. The 
 Irish people, warm-hearted and grateful, felt 
 they could never be sufficiently thankful. They 
 would not allow the declaration of the Empire 
 to be so great an occasion of celebration, 
 as the anniversary of the day on which the 
 premiers of the six Australasian colonies, of the 
 Dominion of Canada, and of the South African 
 Dominion met and despatched the famous 
 cablegram which, after destroying one ad- 
 ministration, resulted in the federation of the 
 empire of Britain. A magnificent group re- 
 presenting these prime ministers, moulded in 
 life-size, was erected, and has always remained 
 the most prominent object, in Dublin. The 
 progress of Ireland after the establishment of 
 the Empire was phenomenal, and it has since 
 generally been regarded as the most prosperous 
 country in the world. Under the vivifying in- 
 fluence of Protection, the manufactures of 
 Ireland advanced with great strides. Pro- 
 visions were made by which the evils of 
 absenteeism were abated. Formerly enormous 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 241 
 
 fortunes were drawn from Ireland by persons 
 who never visited it. An Act was passed by 
 which persons owning large estates but con- 
 stantly absent from the country were com- 
 pelled to dispose of their property at a full, or 
 rather, it might be said, an excessive, value. 
 The Government of Ireland declared that the 
 cost of doing away with the evils of absenteeism 
 was a secondary consideration. The population 
 of Ireland became very large. Hundreds ot 
 thousands of persons descended from those 
 who had gone to America from Ireland came 
 to the country, bringing with them that prac- 
 tical genius for progress of all sorts which so 
 distinguishes the American people. The im- 
 provement of Ireland was always in evidence 
 to show the advantages of the federation of 
 the Empire and of the policy of making the 
 prosperity of its own people the first object 
 of a nation. 
 
 The Irish fete-day that year was regarded 
 with even more than the usual fervour, and 
 that is saying a great deal. It was to be 
 marked by a historical address which Mrs. 
 
 16 
 
242 AjVA^O DOM TNI 2000. 
 
 Hardinge had consented to deliver. Mrs. 
 Hardinge was the idol of the Irish. With the 
 best blood of celebrated Celtic patriots in her 
 veins, she never allowed cosmopolitan or 
 national politics to make her forget that she 
 was thoroughly Irish. She gloried in her 
 country, and was credited with being better 
 acquainted with its history and traditions than 
 any other living being. She spoke in a large 
 hall in Dublin to thousands of persons, who 
 had no difficulty in Ik aring every note of the 
 flexible, penetrating, musical voice they loved 
 so well. She spoke of the long series of 
 difficulties that had occurred before Ireland 
 and England had hit upon a mode of living 
 beneficial and happy to both, because the sus- 
 ceptibilities of the people of either country 
 were no longer in conflict, "Undoubtedly," 
 she said, " Ireland has benefited materially 
 from the uses she has made of local govern- 
 ment ; but the historian would commit a great 
 mistake who allowed it to be supposed that 
 aspirations of a material and sordid kind have 
 been at the root of the long struggle the Irish 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 243 
 
 have made for self-government. I put it to 
 3'ou/' she continued, amidst the intense enthu- 
 siasm of her hearers, " supposing we suffered 
 from the utmost depression, instead of enjoying 
 as we do so much prosperity, and we were 
 to be offered as the price of rehnquishing self- 
 government every benefit that follows in the 
 train of vast wealth, would we consent to the 
 change?" The vehement "No" which she 
 uttered in reply to her own question was 
 re-echoed from thousands of throats. She 
 directed particular attention to what she called 
 the Parnell period. "Looked at from this dis- 
 tance," she said, " it was ludicrous in the 
 extreme. Government succeeded Government ; 
 and each adopted whilst in office the same 
 system of partial coercion, partial coaxing, 
 which it condemned its successor for pursuing. 
 The Irish contingent went from party to party 
 as they thought each oscillated towards them. 
 Many Irish members divided their time between 
 Parliament and prison. The Governments of 
 the day adopted the medium course : the}' would 
 not repress the incipient revolution, and they 
 
244 A2VA^0 DOMINI 2000. 
 
 would not yield to it. Agrarian outrages were 
 committed by blind partisans and weak tools 
 who thought that an exhibition of unscrupulous 
 ferocity might aid the cause. The leaders of 
 the Irish party were consequently placed on 
 the horns of a dilemma. They had either to 
 discredit their supporters, or to admit them- 
 selves favourable to criminal action. They 
 were members of Parliament. They had to 
 take the oath of allegiance. They did not dare 
 to proclaim themselves incipient rebels." Then 
 Mrs. Hardinge quoted, amidst demonstrative 
 enthusiasm, Moore's celebrated lines — 
 
 " Rebellion, foul, dishonouring word, 
 Whose wrongful blight so oft has stained 
 The holiest cause that tongue or sword 
 Of mortal ever lost or gained — 
 How many a spirit born to bless 
 Has shrunk beneath that withering name 
 Whom but a day an hour's success, 
 Had wafted to eternal fame. ' 
 
 "But, my dear friends," pursued Mrs. 
 Hardinge, " do not think that I excuse crime. 
 The end does not justify the means. Even the 
 harm from which good results is to be exe- 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 245 
 
 crated. The saddest actors in history are those 
 who by their own infamy benefited or hoped 
 to benefit others. 
 
 _" For one sad losel soils a name for aye, 
 However mighty in the olden time ; 
 Not all that heralds rake from coffined clay, 
 Nor florid prose, nor honeyed words of rhyme 
 Can blazon evil deeds or consecrate a crime." 
 
 When the applause these lines elicited sub- 
 sided, Mrs. Hardinge dilated on the proposed 
 Home Rule that Mr. Gladstone offered. Natur- 
 ally the Irish party accepted it, but a close 
 consideration convinced her that it was for- 
 tunate it was not carried into effect. The 
 local powers Mr. Gladstone offered were very 
 moderate, far less than the Colonies then 
 possessed, whilst, as the price of them, Ireland 
 was asked to virtually relinquish all share 
 in the government of the country. Gladstone 
 saw insuperable difficulties in the way of 
 establishing a federal parliament ; and without 
 it his proposals, if carried into operation, would 
 have made Ireland still more governed from 
 England than it was without the so-called 
 
246 A^rJVO DOMINI -2000. 
 
 Home Rulf. In I'act, the Iruition of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's proposals would have driven Ireland 
 to fight for independence. " We Irish are not 
 disposed," declared Mrs. Hardinge, " to submit 
 to be excluded from a share in the government 
 of the nation to which we belong. Mr. Glad- 
 stone would virtually have so excluded us ; 
 and if we had taken as a boon the small in- 
 stalment of self-government he offered, we could 
 only have taken it with the determination to 
 use the power we acquired for the purpose of 
 seeking more or of gaining independence. Yes, 
 my fellow-countrymen," she continued amidst 
 loud cheers, " it was good for us, seeing how 
 happily we now live with England, that we did 
 not take Mr. Gladstone's half-measure. Yet 
 there was great suffering and great delay. 
 Weariness and concession stilled the question 
 for a time ; but the Irish continued in a state 
 of more or less suppressed irritation, both from 
 the sense of the indignity of not being per- 
 mitted local government, and from the actual 
 evils resulting from absenteeism. Relief came 
 at length. It came from the great Colonies 
 
GRATEFUL IRELAND. 247 
 
 the energy of all of us — Irish, English, and 
 Scotch — had built up." Long, continuous 
 cheering interrupted the speaker. "You may 
 well cheer," she continued. " The memory 
 of the great colonial heroes whose action we 
 this day conuneniorate, and whom, as usual, 
 we will crown with wreaths of laurel, will 
 always remain as green in our memory as 
 the Isle of Erin itself." She proceeded to 
 describe individually the prime ministers of 
 the Colonies who had brought the pressure 
 to bear upon the Central Government. " The 
 Colonies," she said, " became every day, as 
 they advanced in wealth and progress, more 
 interested in the nation to which they belonged. 
 They saw that nation weakened and discredited 
 at home and abroad by the ever-present contin- 
 gency of Irish disaffection. They felt, besides, 
 that the Colonies, which had grown not only 
 materially, but socially, happy under the influ- 
 ence of free institutions, could not regard with 
 indifference the denial of the same freedom to an 
 important territory of the nation. Their action 
 did equal honour to their intellect and virtue." 
 
248 ANNO DOM INT 200il. 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge concluded by describing with 
 inimitable grace the various benefits which had 
 arisen from satisfying Ireland's wants. " The 
 boon she received," the speaker declared, 
 " Ireland has returned tenfold. It was owing 
 to her that the Empire was federated ; at one 
 moment it stood in the balance whether this 
 great cluster of States should be consolidated 
 into the present happy and united Empire or 
 become a number of disintegrated communities, 
 threatened with all the woes to which weak 
 States are subject." 
 
 After this address Mrs. Hardinge, in the 
 presence of an immense multitude, placed a 
 crown of laurel on the head of each of the 
 statues of the colonial statesmen, commencing 
 with the Prime Minister of Canada. Those 
 statues later in the day were almost hidden 
 from sight, for they were covered with a mass 
 of many thousand garlands. 
 
XII. 
 
 THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGN. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGN. 
 
 ONE day early in May Colonel Laurient 
 was alone with the Emperor, who was 
 walking up and down the room in a state of 
 great excitement. His eyes glittered with an 
 expression of almost ferocity. The veins in 
 his forehead stood out clear and defined, like 
 cords. No one had seen him like this before. 
 "To think they should dare to enter my 
 territory ! They shall never cease to regret it," 
 he declared as he paced the room. Two hours 
 before, the Emperor had been informed that 
 the troops of the United States had crossed 
 into Canada, the excuse, some dispute about 
 the fisheries, the real cause, chagrin of the 
 President at the Emperor's rejection of her 
 daughter's hand. 
 
252 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 "This shall be a bitter lesson to the 
 Yankees," continued the Emperor. "They do 
 not know with whom they have to deal. I 
 grant they were right to seek independence, 
 because the Government of my ancestor 
 goaded them to it. But they shall learn there 
 is a limit to their power, and that they are 
 weak as water compared with the parent 
 country they abandoned. Listen, Laurient," 
 he went on more calmly as he took a seat by 
 a table on which was spread a large map of 
 the United States and Canada. " I have made 
 up my mind what to do, and you are to help 
 me. You are now my first military aide-de- 
 camp. In that capacity and as head of the 
 bodyguard you may appear in evidence." 
 
 " I shall only be too glad to render any 
 assistance in my power. I suppose that the 
 troops will at once proceed to Canada ? " 
 
 "Would you have me," said the Emperor, 
 "do such a wrong to my Canadian subjects? 
 You know, by the constitution of the Empire, 
 each State is bound to protect itself from 
 invasion. Do you think that my Canadian 
 
THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGN. 253 
 
 volunteers are not able to perform this 
 duty ? " 
 
 " I know, your Majesty, that no finer body of 
 troops is to be found in the Empire than the 
 Canadian volunteers and Volunteer reserve. 
 But I thought you seemed disinclined to refrain 
 from action." 
 
 "There you are right, nor do I mean to 
 remain idle. No ; I intend a gigantic revenge. 
 I will invade the States myself." 
 
 Colonel Laurient's eyes glittered. He re- 
 cognised the splendid audacity of the idea, and 
 he was not one to feel fear. " Carry the war 
 into the enemy's camp ! " he said. " I ought 
 to have thought of it. It is an undertaking 
 worthy of you. Sir." 
 
 " I have arranged everything with my 
 advisers, who have given me, as commander of 
 the forces, full executive discretion. You have 
 a great deal to do. You will give, in strict 
 confidence, to some person information which 
 he is to cause to be published in the various 
 papers. That information will be that all the 
 ships and a large force are ordered immediately 
 
254 ANA^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 to the waters of the St. Lawrence. To give 
 reality to the intelligence, the newspapers are 
 to be severely blamed and threatened for 
 publishing it. But you are to select trust- 
 worth}' members of the bodyguard who are 
 verball}' to communicate to the admirals and 
 captains what is reall}^ to be done. Nothing 
 is to be put in writing beyond the evidence of 
 your authorit}' to give instructions, which 1 
 now hand to you. Those instructions are to 
 be by word of mouth. All the large, powerful 
 vessels on the West Indian, Mediterranean, and 
 Channel stations are to meet at Sand}' Hook, 
 oft' New York, on the seventeenth evening from 
 this, with the exception of twenty which are 
 to proceed to Boston. They are to carry with 
 them one hundred thousand of the Volunteer 
 reserve force, fifty thousand of the regular 
 troops, and fifty thousand ordinary volunteers 
 who may choose to offer their services. In 
 every case the ostensible destination is Quebec. 
 My faithful volunteers will not object to the 
 deceit. Part of the force may be carried in 
 air-cruisers, of which there must be in attend- 
 
THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGAL 255 
 
 ance at least three hundred of the best in the 
 service. The air-cruisers as soon as it is dark 
 on the evening appointed are to range all round 
 New York for miles and cut and destroy the 
 telegraph wires in every direction. Twenty of 
 the most powerful, carrying a strong force of 
 men, are to proceed to Washington during the 
 night and bring the President of the United 
 States a prisoner to the flagship, the British 
 Empire. They are to leave Washington with- 
 out destroying property. About ten o'clock the 
 men are to disembark at New York from the 
 air -cruisers, and take possession of every public 
 building and railway station. They are also 
 during the night to disembark from the vessels. 
 There will be little fighting. The Yankees 
 boast of keeping no standing army. They have 
 had a difficulty to get together the hundred 
 and fift}' thousand men they have marched 
 into Canada. Similar action to that at New 
 York is to be adopted at Boston. As soon as 
 sufficient troops are disembarked I will march 
 them into Canada at the rear of the invadeis, 
 and my Canadian forces are to attack them in 
 
256 A.VJVO DOMINI 2U0I). 
 
 front. I will either destroy the United States 
 forces or take them prisoners. All means of 
 transport by rail or river are to be seized, and 
 also the newspaper offices. The morning pub- 
 lication of the newspapers in New York and 
 Boston is to be suppressed ; and if all be well 
 managed, only a few New York and Boston 
 people will know until late the day after our 
 arrival that their cities are in my hands. M}' 
 largest yacht, the Jldoria, is to go to New 
 York. I will join it there in an air-cruiser. 
 Confidential information of all these plans is to 
 be verbally communicated to the Governor of 
 Canada by an aide-de-camp, who will proceed 
 to Ottawa to-morrow morning in a swift air- 
 cruiser. During this night you must arrange 
 for all the information being distributed by 
 trusty men. I wish the intended invasion to 
 be kept a profouiul secret, excepting from those 
 specially informed. Every one is to suppose 
 that Canada is the destination. 1 want the 
 United States to strengthen its army in Canada 
 to the utmost. As to its fleet, as soon as my 
 vessels have disembarked the troops they can 
 
THE EMPEROR PLANS A CAMPAIGN. 257 
 
 proceed to destroy or capture such of the 
 United States vessels of war as have dared to 
 intrude on our Canadian waters." 
 
 The Emperor paused. Colonel Laurient had 
 taken in every instruction. His eyes sparkled 
 with animation and rejoicing, but he did not 
 venture to express his admiration. The Emperor 
 dishked praise. "Laurient," he continued as 
 he grasped his favourite's hand, " go. I will 
 detain you no longer. I trust you as myself." 
 The Colonel bowed low and hastened away. 
 
 It may seem that the proposed mobilization 
 was incredible. But all the forces of the 
 Empire were constantly trained to unexpected 
 calls to arms. Formerly intended emergency 
 measures were designed for weeks in advance ; 
 and though they purported to be secret, every 
 intended particular was published in the news- 
 papers. This was playing at soldiering. The 
 Minister presiding over all the land and sea 
 forces has long since become more practical. 
 He orders for mobilization vv^ithout notice or 
 warning, and practice has secured extraordi- 
 narily rapid results. 
 
 17 
 
XIII. 
 
 LOVE AND IVAK. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LOVE AND WAJi. 
 
 \ T 7" E seldom give to Hilda her title of 
 * ^ Duchess of New Zealand, for she is 
 endeared to us, not on account of her worldly 
 successes, but because of her bright, lovable, 
 unsullied womanly nature. She was dear to 
 all who had the privilege of knowing her. The 
 fascination she exercised was as powerful as 
 it was unstudied. Her success in no degree 
 changed her kindly, sympathetic nature. She 
 always was, and always would be, unselfish 
 and unexacting. She was staying with Mrs. 
 Hardinge whilst the house she had purchased 
 in London was being prepared for her. When 
 Maud was married, she had taken Phoebe 
 BuUer for her principal private secretary. Miss 
 Buller was devoted to Hilda, and showed her- 
 self to be a very able and industrious secretary. 
 
262 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 She had gained Hilda's confidence, and was 
 entrusted with many offices requiring for their 
 discharge both tact and judgment. She was 
 much hked in London society, and was not 
 averse to general admiration. She was slightl}' 
 inclined to flirtation, but she excused this 
 disposition to herself by the reflection that it 
 \vas her dut}' to her chief to learn as much as 
 she could from, and about every one. She had 
 a devoted admirer in Cecil Fielding, a very 
 able barrister. As a rule, the most successful 
 counsel were females. Men seldom had much 
 chance with juries. But Cecil Fielding was an 
 exception. Besides great logical powers, he 
 possessed a voice of much variety of expression 
 and of persuasive sympath3^ ^^^'^ however 
 successful he was with juries, he was less 
 fortunate with Phoebe. That young lady did 
 not respond to his affection. She inclined more 
 to the military profession generally and to 
 Captain Douglas Garstairs in particular. He 
 was one of the bodyguard, and now that war 
 was declared was next to Colonel Laurient the 
 chief aide-de-camp. By the Colonel's direc- 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 2(ji 
 
 tions, the morning after the interview with the 
 Emperor, he waited on the Duchess of New 
 Zealand to confer with her as to the selection 
 of a woman to take charge of the ambulance 
 corps to accompan}' the forces on the ostensible 
 expedition to Canada. Hilda summoned Phoebe 
 and told her to take Captain Garstairs to see 
 Mary Maudesley, and ascertain if that able 
 3foung woman would accept the position on so 
 short a notice. 
 
 Hilda had always taken great interest in 
 the organisation of all institutions dedicated to 
 dealing with disease. Lately she had contri- 
 buted large sums to several of these establish- 
 ments in want of means, and she had specially 
 endowed an ambulance institution to train 
 persons to treat cases of emergency consequent 
 on illness or accident. She had thus been 
 brought into contact with Mary Maudesley, and 
 had noticed her astonishing power of organisa- 
 tion and her tenderness for suffering. Mary 
 Maudesley was the daughter of parents in 
 humble life. She was about twenty-seven 
 years of age. Her father was subforemari in 
 
26 1 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 a large metal factor}'. He had risen to the 
 position 1)}' his assiduitj^, ability, and trust- 
 worthiness. He received good wages ; but " 
 having a large family, he continued to live 
 in the same humble condition as when he was 
 one of the ordinary hands at the factory. 
 He occupied a flat on the eighth story of a 
 large residential building in Portman Square, 
 which had once been an eminentl}' fashion- 
 able neighbourhood. Besides the necessary 
 sleeping accommodation, he had a sitting-room 
 and kitchen. His residence might be con- 
 sidered the type of the accommodation to 
 which the humblest labourers were accustomed. 
 No one in the British Empire was satisfied 
 with less than sufficient house accommodation, 
 substantial though plain food, and convenient, 
 decent attire. 
 
 Mary when little more than fourteen years 
 old had been present at an accident b}' which 
 a little child of six j^ears old was knocked down 
 and had one leg and both arms broken. The 
 father of tlie child had recently lost his wife. 
 He lived in the same l)uil(ling as the Maudes- 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 265 
 
 leys, and Mary day and night attended to the 
 poor h'ttle sufferer until it regained health and 
 strength. Probably this gave direction to the 
 devotion which she subsequently showed to 
 attendance on the sick. She joined an institu- 
 tion where nurses were trained to attend cases 
 of illness in the homes of the humble. She 
 was perfectly fearless, notwithstanding she had 
 been twice stricken down with dangerous ill- 
 ness, the result of infection from patients she 
 had nursed. 
 
 Miss BuUer thought it desirable to see Miss 
 Maudesley at her own house, both because 
 it might be necessary to consult her further, 
 and because she wished to observe what were 
 her domestic surroundings. They were pleased 
 with what they saw. The flat was simply 
 but usefully furnished. There was no striving 
 after display. Everything was substantial and 
 good of its kind without being needlessly 
 expensive. Grace and beauty were not wanting. 
 Some excellent drawings and water-coloured 
 paintings by Mr. Maudesley and one or two of 
 his children decorated the walls. There were 
 
266 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 two or three small models of inventions of 
 Mr. Maudesley's and one item of luxury in 
 great beauty in the shape of flowers, with 
 which the sitting-room was ampl}' deco- 
 rated. We are perhaps wrong in terming 
 flowers luxuries, for after all, luxuries are 
 things with which people can dispense ; and 
 there were few families who did not regard 
 flowers as a necessary ornament of a home, 
 however humble it and its surroundings 
 might be. 
 
 Miss RuUer explained to Miss Maudesley that 
 the usual head of the war ambulance corps 
 required a substitute, as she was unable to join 
 the expedition. It was her wish as well as 
 that of the Duchess of New Zealand that Miss 
 Maudesley should take her place. Fortunately 
 Miss Maudesley's engagements were sufficiently 
 disposable to enable her to accept the notable 
 distinction thus offered to her. Miss BuUer 
 was greatly pleased with the unaffected manner 
 in which she expressed her thanks and her 
 willingness to act. 
 
 Captain Garstairs returned with Phoebe 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 267 
 
 Buller to her official room. "Good-bye, Miss 
 Duller," he said. " I hope you will allow me 
 to call on you when I return, if indeed the 
 exigencies of war allow me to return." 
 
 " Of course you will return. And why do 
 you call me Miss Buller ? " said the girl, with 
 downcast eyes and pale face. For the time 
 all traces of coquetry were wanting. 
 
 " May I call you Phoebe ? And do you wish 
 me to return ?" 
 
 " Why not ? Good-bye." 
 
 The cold words were belied by the moistened 
 eyes. The bold soldier saw his opportunity. 
 Before he left the room they were engaged 
 to be married. 
 
 It is curious how war brings incidents of 
 this kind to a crisis. At the risk of weary- 
 ing our readers with a monotony of events, 
 another scene in the same mansion must be 
 described. 
 
 The Emperor did Mrs. Hardinge the honour 
 of visiting her at her own house. So little 
 did she seem surprised, that it almost appeared 
 she expected him. She, however, pleaded an 
 
268 AA^.VO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 urgent engagement, and asked permission to 
 leave Hilda as her substitute. The readiness 
 with which the permission was granted seemed 
 also to be prearranged, and the astonished 
 girl found herself alone with the Emperor 
 before she had fully realised that he had come 
 to see Mrs. Hardinge. He turned to her a 
 bright and happy face, but his manner was 
 signally deferential. 
 
 " You cannot realise, Duchess, how I have 
 longed to see you alone once more." 
 
 Hilda, confused beyond expression, turned 
 to him a face from which every trace of colour 
 had departed. 
 
 "Do you remember," he proceeded, "the 
 last time we were alone ? You allowed me 
 then to ask you a question as from man to 
 woman. May I again do so ? " 
 
 He took her silence for consent, and went 
 on in a tone from which he vamly endeavoured 
 to banish the agitation that overmastered him. 
 " Hilda, from that time there has been but 
 one woman in the world for me. My tirst, 
 my only, love, will you be my wife ? " 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 269 
 
 " Your Majesty," said the girl, wlio as his 
 agitatiuii increased appeared to recover some 
 presence of mind, " what would the world 
 say ? The Emperor may not wed with a 
 subject." 
 
 " Why not ? Am I to be told that, with 
 all the power that has come to me, I am to 
 be less free to secure my own happiness than 
 the humblest of my subjects ? Hilda, I prefer 
 you to the throne if the choice had to be made. 
 But it has not. I will remain the Emperor in 
 order to make you the Empress. But say you 
 can love the man, not the monarch." 
 
 " I do not love the Emperor," said the girl, 
 almost in a whisper. 
 
 These unflattering words seemed highly 
 satisfactory to x\lbert Edward ajs he sought 
 from her sweet lips a ratification of her love 
 not for the Emperor, but the man. 
 
 They both thought Mrs. Hardinge's absence 
 a very short one when she returned, and yet 
 she had been away an hour. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Hardiuge," said the Emperor, 
 with radiant face, " Hilda has consented to 
 
270 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 make me the happiest man in all my wide 
 dominions." 
 
 Mrs. Hardinge cauglit Hilda in her arms, and 
 embraced her with the affection of a mother. 
 " Your Majesty," she said at length, " does 
 Hilda great honour. Yet I am sure you will 
 never regret it." 
 
 " Indeed I shall not," he replied, with signal 
 promptitude. "And it is she who does me 
 honour. When I return from America and 
 announce my engagement, 1 will take care that 
 I let the world think so." 
 
 On the evening which had been fixed, the 
 war and transport vessels and air-cruisers met 
 off New York ; and in a few hours the city was 
 in the hands of the Emperor's forces. There 
 was a little desultory fighting as well as some 
 casualties, but there were few compared with 
 the magnitude of the operation. The railway 
 and telegraph stations, public buildings, and 
 newspaper offices were in the hands of the in- 
 vaders. Colonel Laurient himself led the force 
 to Washington. At about four o'clock in the 
 morning between twenty and thirty air-cruisers, 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 271 
 
 crowUtd with armed soldiers, reached that city. 
 With a httlc lighting, the Treasury and Arsenal 
 were taken possession of, and the newspaper 
 offices occupied. About one thousand men in- 
 vaded the White House, some entering by means 
 of the air-cruisers through the roof and others 
 forcing their way through the lower part of the 
 palace. There was but little resistance ; and 
 within an hour the President of the United 
 States, in response to Colonel Laurient's urgent 
 demand, received him in one of the principal 
 rooms. She was a fine, handsome woman of 
 apparently about thirty-five years of age. Her 
 daughter, a young lady of seventeen, was in 
 attendance on her. They did not show much 
 sign of the alarm to which they had been 
 subjected or of the haste with which they had 
 prepared themselves to meet the British envoy. 
 They received Colonel Laurient with all the 
 high-bred dignity they might have exhibited on 
 a happier occasion. Throughout the interview 
 his manner, though firm, was most deferential. 
 " Madam," he said, bowing low to the Presi- 
 dent, " my imperial master the Emperor of 
 
z-ji ANNO DOMINI 200U 
 
 Britain, in response to what he considers your 
 wanton invasion of British territory in his 
 Canadian dominions, has taken possession of 
 New York, and requires me to lead you a 
 prisoner to the British flagship stationed off 
 that city. I need scarcely say that personally 
 the task so far as it is painful to you is not 
 agreeable to me. I have ten thousand men 
 with me and a large number of air-cruisers. 
 I regret to have to ask you to leave im- 
 mediately." 
 
 The President, deeply affected, asked if she 
 might be allowed to take her daughter and 
 personal attendants with her. 
 
 " Most certainly, Madam," replied Laurient. 
 " I am only too happy to do anything to conduce 
 to your personal comfort. You may be sure, 
 you will suffer from no want of respect and 
 attention." 
 
 Within an hour the President, her daughter, 
 and attendants left Washington in Colonel 
 Laurient's own an-cruiser. An hour after- 
 wards a second cruiser followed with the 
 ladles' luggage. Kleanwhile tlie telegraph lines 
 
. LOVE AND WAR. 273 
 
 round Washington were destroyed, and the 
 officers of the forces stationed at Washington 
 were made prisoners of war and taicen on 
 board the cruisers. At six o'clock in the 
 morning the whole of the remaining cruisers 
 left, and rapidly made their way to New York. 
 The President, Mrs. Washington-Lawrence, 
 and her daughter were received on board the 
 flagship with the utmost respect. The officers 
 vied with each other in showing them attention, 
 but they were not permitted to make any com- 
 munication with the shore. About noon the 
 squadron, after disembarking the land forces, 
 left for the St. Lawrence waters, and succeeded 
 in capturing twenty-five of the finest vessels 
 belonging to the United States, besides in- 
 numerable smaller ones. The Emperor left 
 fifty thousand men, well supplied with guns, 
 arms, and ammunition, in charge of New York, 
 and at the head of an amiy of one hundred 
 thousand men, the flower of the British force 
 in the Northern Hemisphere, proceeded rapidly 
 to the Canadian frontier. About a hundred 
 miles on the other side of the frontier they 
 
 18 
 
274 AAWO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 came upon traces of the near presence of the 
 American forces. 
 
 Here it was that the most conspicuous act 
 of personal courage was displayed, and the 
 hero was Lord Reginald Paramatta. He hap- 
 pened to be in London when war was 
 announced, and he volunteered to accompan}' 
 one of the battalions. It should be mentioned 
 that no proceedings had been initiated against 
 Lord Reginald either for his presence at the 
 treasonable meeting, or for his attempted abduc- 
 tion of Hilda. Her friends were entirely averse 
 to any action being taken, as the publicity 
 would have been most repugnant to her. It 
 became necessary early in the night to ascertain 
 the exact position of the American forces, and 
 to communicate with the Canadian forces on 
 the other side, with the view to joint action. 
 The locality was too unknown and the night 
 too dark to make the air-cruisers serviceable. 
 The reconnoitring party were to make their 
 way as best they could through the American 
 lines, communicate with the Canadian com- 
 mander, and return as soon as possible in an 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 275 
 
 air-cruiser. Each man carried with him an 
 electric battery of intense force, by means of 
 which he could either produce a strong light, 
 or under certain conditions a very powerful 
 offensive and defensive weapon. 
 
 Only fifty men were to compose the force, 
 and Lord Reginald's offer to lead them was 
 heartily accepted. His bravery, judgment, and 
 coolness in action were undeniable. At mid- 
 night he started, and, with the assistance of 
 a guide, soon penetrated to an eminence from 
 which the lights of the large United States 
 camp below could be plainly discerned. The 
 forces were camped on the plain skirted by the 
 range of hills from one of which Lord Reginald 
 made his observations. The plain was of 
 peculiar shape, resembling nearly the figure 
 that two long isosceles triangles joined at 
 the base would represent. The force was in 
 its greatest strength at the middle, and tapered 
 down towards each end. Far away on the 
 other edge of the plain, evidence of the Cana- 
 dian camp could be dimly perceived. The 
 ceaseless movements in the American camp 
 
276 AA^A^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 betokened preparations for early action. After 
 a long and critical survey both of the plain 
 and of the range of hills, Lord Reginald deter- 
 mined to cross at the extreme left. The scouts 
 of the Americans were stationed far up upon 
 the chain of hills, and Lord Reginald saw that 
 it would be impossible to traverse unnoticed 
 the range from where he stood to the point at 
 which he had determined to descend to the 
 plain. He had to retire to the other side 
 of the range and make his progress to the west 
 (the camp faced the north) on the outer side 
 of the range that skirted the camp. The hill 
 from which he had decided to descend was 
 nearly two miles distant from the point at 
 which he made his observation. But the way 
 was rough and tortuous, and it took nearly 
 two hours to reach a comparatively low hill 
 skirting the plain at the narrowest point. The 
 force below was also narrowed out. Less than 
 half a mile in depth seemed to be occupied 
 by the American camp at this point. The 
 Canadian camp was less extended. Its extreme 
 west appeared to be attainable by a diagonal 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 277 
 
 line of about two miles in length, with an 
 inclination from the straight of about seventy 
 degrees. Lord Reginald had thus to force his 
 way through nearly half a mile of the camp, 
 and then to cross nearly two miles between 
 both forces. 
 
 The commander halted his followers, and 
 in a low tone proceeded to give his instructions. 
 The men were to march in file two deep, 
 about six feet were to separate each rank, and 
 the files were to be twenty feet apart. Each 
 two men of the same file were to carry extended 
 between them the flexible platinum aluminium 
 electric wire, capable of bearing an enormous 
 strain, that upon a touch of the button of 
 the battery, carried by each man, would des- 
 troy any living thing which came in contact 
 with it. Lord Reginald and the officer next to 
 him in rank, who was none other than Captain 
 Douglas Garstairs, were to lead the way. In 
 a few moments the wires between each two 
 men were adjusted. They were to proceed 
 very slowly down the hill until they were 
 observed, then with a rush, to skirt the outside 
 
278 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 of the camp. Once past the camp, the wires 
 were to be disconnected, and the men, as much 
 separated as possible, were to make to the oppo- 
 site camp with the utmost expedition. Slowly 
 and noiselessly amidst the intense shadow of 
 the hill Lord Reginald and his companion led 
 the way towards the extreme end of the camp. 
 They had nearly reached the level ground when 
 at three feet distance a sentry stood before them 
 and shouted, "Who goes there? " Poor wretch, 
 they were his last words. Lord Reginald 
 and his companion with a rapid movement 
 rushed on either side of him, and the moment 
 the wire touched him he sank to the ground a 
 lifeless mass. Then ensued a commotion 
 almost impossible to describe. Lord Reginald 
 and Captain Garstairs were noted runners. 
 They proceeded at a strong pace outside of 
 the tents. As the men rushed out to stop 
 them, the fatal wire performed its ghastly 
 execution. Three times three men sank life- 
 less in their, path, before they cleared the 
 outside of the tents. The Americans could 
 only fire at intervals, for fear of hitting their 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 279 
 
 own men. Of the twenty-five couples of Lord 
 Reginald's force, fifteen passed the tents ; 
 twenty of the brave men were stricken down, 
 whilst the way was strewn with the bodies of 
 the Americans who had succumbed to the 
 mysterious electric force. And now the time 
 had come for each one to save himself. The 
 wires were disconnected, the batteries thrown 
 down, and for dear life every one rushed 
 towards the Canadian camp. But the noise 
 had been heard along the line, and a wonder- 
 ful consequence ensued. From end to end 
 of tiie American camp the electric lights 
 were turned on to the strength of many 
 millions of candle-power. The lights left the 
 camp in darkness ; the rays were turned out- 
 wards to the spare ground that separated the 
 camps. The Canadians responded by turning 
 on their lights, and the plain between the two 
 camps was irradiated with a dazzling brightness 
 which even the sunlight could not enmlate. 
 The forlorn hope dashed on. Thousands of 
 pieces were fired at the straggling men. It 
 was fortunate they were so much apart, as it 
 
28o ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 led to the same man being shot at many times. 
 Of the thirty who passed the tents ten men 
 at intervals fell before the niurderons lire. 
 Lord Reginald had been grazed by a shot the 
 effects of which he scarcely felt. Me and his 
 companions were within a hundred yards of 
 safety. But that safety was not to be. 
 Captain Garstairs was struck. "Good-bye, 
 
 Reginald. Tell PhcEbe Buller " He could 
 
 say no more. Lord Reginald arrested his 
 progress, and as coolly as if he were in a 
 drawing-room lifted the wounded man tenderly 
 and carefully in his arms, and without haste or 
 fear covered the intervening distance to the 
 Canadian camp. He was not struck. Who 
 indeed shall say that he was aimed at ? His 
 great deed was equally seen by each army in 
 the bright blaze of light ; and when he reached 
 the haven of safety, a cheer went up from each 
 side, for there were brave men in both armies, 
 ready to admire deeds of valour. Only ten 
 men reached the Canadian camp; but, under 
 the sanction of a flag of truce, five more were 
 brought in alive, and they subsequently re- 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 281 
 
 covered from their wounds. Captain Garstairs 
 was shot in the leg both above and below the 
 knee. He remained in the Canadian camp that 
 day. At first it was feared he would lose the 
 limb. But, to anticipate events, when the 
 Emperor's forces joined the Canadian, Mary 
 Maudesley took charge of him ; and Captain 
 Garstairs had ample cause to congratulate him- 
 self on the visit he had paid to secure the 
 services of that lady. He was in the habit of 
 declaring afterwards that it was the most suc- 
 cessful expedition of his life, for it was the 
 means of securing him a wife and of saving 
 him a limb. 
 
 Lord Reginald rapidly explained the situation 
 to the Canadian commander-in-chief. The 
 Emperor's army could come up in three hours. 
 It was evident from the movements under the 
 hills opposite, as shown by the electric light, 
 that the Americans did not mean to waste time. 
 It was probable that at the first dawn of day 
 they would set their army in motion ; and it 
 was arranged that the Canadians, without 
 hastening the action, should, on the Americans 
 
282 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 advancing, proceed to meet them, so that they 
 would be nearer the Emperor's forces as these 
 advanced in rear of the enemy. Scarcely half 
 an hour after he reached the Canadian lines 
 Lord Reginald ascended in a swift air-cruiser, 
 and passing high above the American camp, 
 reached the Emperor's forces before day dawned. 
 
 Lord Reginald briefly communicated the 
 result of his expedition. He took no credit 
 to himself, did not dwell on the dangerous 
 passage nor his heroic rescue of Captain 
 Garstairs. Nevertheless the incident soon 
 became known, and enhanced Lord Reginald's 
 popularity. 
 
 The army was rapidly in motion ; and after 
 the Canadian and American forces became 
 engaged, the British army, led by the Emperor 
 in person, appeared on the crest of the hills 
 and descended towards the plains. The 
 American commander-ni-chief knew nothing 
 of the British army in his rear. Tidings had 
 not reached him of the occupation of New York 
 and Boston. The incident of the rush of 
 Lord Regniald and his party across ihe plain 
 
LOVE AND WAR. 283 
 
 from camp to camp and the return of an air- 
 cruiser towards the United States frontier had 
 occasioned him surprise ; but his mind did not 
 dwell on it in the midst of the immediate 
 responsible duties he had to perform. On the 
 other hand, he was expecting reinforcements 
 from the States ; and when the new force 
 appeared on the summit of the hills, he con- 
 gratulated himself mentally ; for the battle with 
 the Canadian army threatened to go hard with 
 him. Before he was undeceived the British 
 troops came thundering down the hills, and he 
 was a prisoner to an officer of the Emperor's 
 own staff. The British troops went onwards, 
 and the destruction of the American forces was 
 imminent. But the Emperor could not bear 
 the idea of the carnage inflicted on persons 
 speaking the same language, and whose fore- 
 fathers w ere the subjects of his own ancestors. 
 " Spare them," he appealed to the commander- 
 in-chief. " They are hopelessly at our mercy. 
 Let them surrender." 
 
 The battle was stayed as speedily as possible ; 
 and the British and Canadian forces found 
 
284 ANNO DOMINI 2000 
 
 themselves in possession of over one hundred 
 and thirty thousand prisoners, besides all the 
 arms, ammunition, artillery, and camp equipage. 
 It was a tremendous victory. 
 
XIV. 
 
 THE FOURTH OF JULY RETRIEVED. 
 
T 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE FOURTH OF JULY RETRIEVED. 
 
 HE prisoners were left at Quebec suitably 
 guarded ; but the British and Canadian 
 forces, as fast as the railways could carry them, 
 returned to New York. The United States 
 Constitution had not made provision for the 
 imprisonment or abduction of the President of 
 the Republic, and there was some doubt as to 
 how the place of the chief of the executive 
 should be supplied. It was decided that, as 
 in the President's absence on ordinary occasions 
 the deputy President represented him, so the 
 same precedent should be followed in the case 
 of the present extraordinary absence. 
 
 The President, however, was not anxious to 
 resume her position. It was to her headstrong 
 action that the invasion of Canada was owing. 
 The President of the United States possesses 
 
288 ANAW DOMINI 2000. 
 
 more individual power in the way of moving 
 armies and declaring war than any other 
 monarch. This has always been the case. A 
 warlike spirit is easily fostered in an}^ nation. 
 Still the wise and prudent were aghast at the 
 President's hasty action on what seemed the 
 slight provocation of the renewal of the im- 
 memorial fisheries dispute. Of course public 
 opinion could not gauge the sense of wrong- 
 that the rejection by the Emperor of her 
 daughter's hand had occasioned in the mind 
 of the President. Now that the episode was 
 over, and the empire of Britain had won a 
 triumph which amply redeemed the humiliation 
 of centuries back, when the English colonies 
 of America won their independence by force 
 of arms, public opinion was very bitter against 
 the President. The glorious 4th of July was 
 virtually abolished. How could they celebrate 
 the independence and forget to commemorate 
 the retrieval by their old mother-country of all 
 her power and prestige ? No wonder then that 
 Mrs. Washington-Lawrence did not care to 
 return to the States ! 
 
FOURTH OF JULY RETRIEVED. 289 
 
 " My dear," she said to her daughter in one 
 of the luxurious cabins assigned to them on 
 the flagship, "do you think that I ought to 
 send in my resignation ? " 
 
 " I cannot judge," replied the young lady. 
 " You appear quite out of it. Negotiations are 
 said to be proceeding, but you are not con- 
 sulted or even informed of what is going on." 
 
 " If it were not for you," said the elder lady, 
 " I would never again set foot on the United 
 States soil. Captain Hamilton " (alluding to 
 the captain of the vessel they were on, the 
 British Empire) " says I ought not to do so." 
 
 " I do not see that his advice matters," 
 promptl}' answered the young lad3'. " If 
 Admiral Benedict had said so, I might have 
 considered it more important." 
 
 " I think more of the captain's opinion," said 
 Mrs. Washington-Lawrence. 
 
 " Perhaps he thinks more of yours," retorted 
 the unceremonious daughter. " Rut what do 
 you mean about returning for my sake ? " 
 
 " My dear, you are very young, and cannot 
 remain by yourself. Besides, you will want to 
 
 19 
 
20O AjVA^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 settle in the United States when you marry, to 
 look after the large property your father left 
 you, and that will come to you when you are 
 twenty-one." 
 
 " I think, mother, you have interfered quite 
 sufficiently about my marrying. We should 
 not be here now but for your anxiety to 
 dispose of me." 
 
 Mrs. Washington -Lawrence thought this 
 very ungrateful, for her eftbrts were not at the 
 time at all repugnant to the ambitious young 
 lady. However, a quarrel was averted ; and 
 milder counsels prevailed. At length the elder 
 lady confessed, with many blushes, Captain 
 Hamilton had proposed to her, and that she 
 would have accepted him but for the thought 
 of her daughter's probable dissatisfaction. 
 
 This aroused an answering confession from 
 Miss Washington-Lawrence. The admiral, it 
 appeared, had twice proposed to her ; and she 
 had consented to his obtaining the Emperor's 
 permission, a condition considered necessary 
 under the peculiar circumstances. 
 
 The Emperor readily gave his consent. It 
 
FOURTH OF JULY RETRIEVED. 291 
 
 was an answer to those of his own subjects 
 who had wished him to marry the New England 
 girl with the red hair, and opened the way to 
 his announcing his marriage with Hilda. 
 
 The two weddings of mother and daughter 
 took place amidst much rejoicing throughout 
 the whole squadron. The Emperor gave to 
 each bride a magnificent set of diamonds. 
 Neg<»tiations meanwhile with the United States 
 proceeded as to the terms on which the Emperoi- 
 would consent to peace, a month's truce 
 having been declared in the meanwhile. Mrs. 
 Hardinge and Hilda met the chief ministers of 
 the two powerful empires in Europe, and 
 satisfied them that the British Government 
 would not ask anything prejudicial to their 
 interests. 
 
 The terms were finally arranged. The 
 United States were to pay the empire of 
 Britain six hundred millions sterling and to 
 salute the British flag. The Childrosse family 
 and Rorgon, Mose and Co. undertook to find 
 the money for the United States Government. 
 The Emperor consented to retire from New 
 
292 AA^NO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 York in six months unless within thrt time a 
 plebiscite of that State and the New English 
 States declared by a majority of two to one 
 the desire of the people to again become the 
 subjects of the British Empire, in which case 
 New York would be constituted the capital of 
 the Dominion of Canada. To anticipate events, 
 it may at once be said that the majority in 
 favour of reannexation was over four to one, 
 and that the union was celebrated with enor- 
 mous rejoicing. Most of the United States 
 vessels were returned to her, and the British 
 Government, on behalf of the Empire, voluntarily 
 relinquished the money payment, in favour of 
 its being handed to the States seceding from 
 the Republic to join the Canadian Dominion. 
 This provision w'as a wise one, for otherwise 
 the new States of the Canadian Dominion 
 would have been less wealthy than those they 
 joined. 
 
XV. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ' I ^HE Emperor went to Quebec for a week, 
 ^ and thence returned to London, in the 
 month of July. There he announced his 
 intended marriage, and that it would very 
 soon take place. The ovations showered on 
 the Emperor in consequence of his successful 
 operations in the United States defy descrip- 
 tion. He was recognised as the first military 
 genius of the day. Many declared that he 
 excelled all military heroes of the past, and 
 that a better-devised and more ably carried- 
 into-etfect military movement was not to be 
 found in the pages of history, ancient or 
 modern. 
 
 At such a time, had the marriage been really 
 
296 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 unpopular, much would have been conceded to 
 the desire to do honour to his military suc- 
 cesses. But the marriage was not unpopular 
 in a personal sense. There was great differ- 
 ence of opinion as to the wisdom of an emperor 
 marrying a subject instead of seeking a foreign 
 alliance. On the one hand, difficulties of court 
 etiquette were alleged ; on the other, it was 
 contended that Britain liad nothing to gain 
 from foreign marriage alliances, that she was 
 strong enough without them, and that they 
 frequently were sources of weakness rather 
 than strength. 
 
 The Duchess of New Zealand sat alone in 
 her study in the new mansion in London of 
 which she had just taken possession. It was 
 magnificently furnished and decorated, but she 
 would soon cease to have a use for it. She was 
 to be married in a week, and the Empress of 
 Britain would have royal residences in all parts 
 of her wide dominions. She intended to make 
 a present of her new house, with its contents, 
 to Phoebe Buller on her marriage with Colonel 
 Garstairs. Me won his promotion in the 
 
CONCL USION. 297 
 
 United States war. She was writing a letter 
 to her sister, Lady Montreal. A slight noise 
 attracted her attention. She looked up, and 
 with dismay beheld the face of Lord Reginald 
 Paramatta. *' How dare you thus intrude ? " 
 she said, in an accent of strong indignation, 
 though she could scarcely restrain a feeling of 
 pity, so ill and careworn did he look. 
 
 " Do not grudge me," he said, in deprecatory 
 tones, "a few moments of your presence. I 
 am dying for the want of you." 
 
 "My lord," replied Hilda, "you should be 
 sensible that nothing could be more distasteful 
 to me than such a visit after your past 
 conduct." 
 
 " 1 do not deny your cause of complaint ; 
 but, Hilda— let me call you so this once— re- 
 member it was all for love of you." 
 
 " I cannot remember anything of the kind. 
 True love seeks the happiness of the object it 
 cherishes, not its misery." 
 
 " You once looked kindly on me." 
 
 "Lord Reginald, I never loved you, nor did 
 I ever lead you to believe so. A deep and 
 
298 ANiVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 true instinct told me from the first that I could 
 not be happy with you." 
 
 '• You crush me with your cruel words," said 
 Lord Reginald. " When I am away from you, 
 I persuade myself that I have not sufficiently 
 pleaded my cause ; and then with irresistible 
 force I long to see you." 
 
 " All your wishes," said the girl, " are irre- 
 sistible because you have never learned to 
 govern them. If you truly loved me, you would 
 have the strength to sacrifice your love to the 
 conviction that it would wreck my happiness." 
 The girl paused. Then, with a look of im- 
 passioned sincerity, she went on, " Lord 
 Reginald, let me a| peal to your better nature. 
 You are brave. No one more rejoiced than I 
 did over your great deed in Canada. I forgot 
 your late conduct, and thought only of our 
 earlier friendship. Be brave now morally as 
 well as physically. Renounce the feelings I 
 cannot reciprocate ; and when next I meet 
 you, let me acknowledge in you the hero who 
 has conquered himself." 
 
 " In vain. In vain. I cannot do it. There 
 
CONCL USION. 299 
 
 is no alternative for me but 3'ou or death. 
 Hilda, I will not trifle with time. I am 
 here to carry you away. You must be 
 mine." 
 
 " Dare you threaten me," said she, " and in 
 my own house ? " Her hand was on the button 
 on the table to summon assistance, but he 
 arrested the movement and put his arm round 
 her waist. With a loud and piercing scream, 
 Hilda flew towards the door. Before she 
 reached it, it opened ; and there entered a tall 
 man, with features almost indistinguishable 
 from the profuse beard, whiskers, and moustache 
 with which they were covered. Hilda screamed 
 out, " Help me. Protect me." 
 
 " I am Laurient," he whispered to the agitated 
 girl. " Go to the back room, and this whistle 
 will bring immediate aid. The lower part of 
 the house and staircase are crowded with that 
 man's followers." Hilda rushed from the room 
 before Lord Reginald could reach her. Colonel 
 Laurient closed the door, and pulled from his 
 face its hirsute adornments. " 1 am Colonel 
 Laurient, at your service. You have to reckon 
 
300 AJVJVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 with me for your cruel persecution of tfiat 
 poor girl." 
 
 "How came you here? " asketl Lord Reginald, 
 who was almost stunned with astonishment. 
 
 " My lord," replied Laurient, " since your 
 attempt at Waiwera to carry, the Duchess away 
 you have been unceasingly shadowed. Your 
 personal attendants were in the pay of those 
 who watched over that fair girl's safety. Your 
 departure from Canada was noted, the object 
 of your stay in London suspected. Your in- 
 tended visit to-day was guessed at, and I was 
 one of the followers who accompanied you. 
 But there is no time for explanation. You shall 
 account to me as a friend of the Emperor for 
 your conduct to the noble woman he is about 
 to marry. She shall be persecuted no longer ; 
 one or both of us shall not leave this room 
 alive." 
 
 lie pullet! out two small liring-pieces, each 
 with three barrels. "Select one," he said 
 briefly. " Both weapons are loaded. We shall 
 stand at opposite ends of this large room." 
 
 At no time would Lord Reginald have been 
 
CONCL USION. 301 
 
 likely to refuse a challenge of this kind, and 
 least of all now. His one desire was revenge 
 on some one to satisfy the terrible cravings of 
 his baffled passions. " I am under the impres- 
 sion," he said, with studied calmness, " that I 
 already owe something to your interference. I 
 am not reluctant to acquit myself of the debt." 
 
 In a few minutes the help Hilda summoned 
 arrived. Laurient had taken care to provide 
 assistance near at hand. When the officers in 
 charge of the aid entered the room, a sad sight 
 presented itself. Both Lord Reginald and 
 Colonel Laurient were prostrate on the ground, 
 the former evidently fatally stricken, the latter 
 scarcely less seriously wounded. 
 
 They did not venture to move Lord Reginald. 
 At his earnest entreaty, Hilda came to him. 
 It was a terrible ordeal for her. It was likely 
 both men would die, and their death would be 
 the consequence of their vain love for her. 
 But how different the nature of the love, the 
 one unselfish and sacrificing, seeking only her 
 happiness, the other brutally indifferent to all 
 but its own uncontrollable impulses. It seemed 
 
302 ^AWO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 absurd to call by the same name sentiments so 
 widely opposite, the one so ennobling, the other 
 so debasing. 
 
 She stood beside the couch on which the}^ 
 had lifted him. " Hilda," he whispered in a 
 tone so low, she could scarcely distinguish 
 what he said, " the death I spoke of has come ; 
 and I do not regret it. It was you or death, 
 as I told you ; and death has conquered." He 
 paused for a few moments, then resumed, 
 " My time is short. Say you forgive me all thf- 
 unhappiness I have caused you." 
 
 Hilda was much affected. " Reginald," she 
 faltered, " I fully, freely forgive you for all your 
 wrongs to me ; but can I forget that Colonel 
 Laurient may also meet his death ? " 
 
 " A happy death, for it will have been gained 
 in your service." 
 
 " Reginald, dear Reginald, if your sad antici- 
 pation is to be realised, should you not cease 
 to think of earthly things ? " 
 
 "Pray for me," he eagerly replied. "You 
 were right in saying my passions were un- 
 governable, but 1 have never forgotten the faith 
 
CONCL USION. 503 
 
 of m}' childhood. I am past forgiveness, for I 
 sinned and knew that I was sinning." 
 
 "God is all-merciful," said the tearful girl. 
 She sank upon her knees before the couch, and 
 in low tones prayed the prayers familiar to 
 her, and something besides extemporised from 
 her own heart. She thought of Reginald as 
 she first knew him, of the great deeds of which 
 he had been capable, of the melancholy conse- 
 quence of his uncontrolled love for herself She 
 prayed witii an intense earnestness that he 
 might be forgiven ; and as she prayed a faint 
 smile irradiated the face of the dying man, and 
 with an effort to say, " Amen," he drew his 
 last breath. 
 
 Three days later Hilda stood beside another 
 deathbed. All that care and science could 
 effect was useless ; Colonel Laurient was dying. 
 The fiat had gone forth ; life was impossible. 
 The black horses would once more come to the 
 door of the new mansion. He who loved 
 Hilda so truly, so unselfishl}', was to share the 
 fate of that other unworthy lover. Hilda's 
 grief was of extreme poignancy, and scarcely 
 
304 ANNO DOMINI ->0(iO. 
 
 less gcieved was the Emperor himself. He had 
 passed most of his time since he had learnt 
 Laurient's danger beside his couch, and now 
 the end was approaching. On one side of the 
 bed was the Emperor, on the other Hilda, 
 Duchess of New Zealand. How puerile the 
 title seemed in the presence of the dread 
 executioner who recognises no distinction 
 between peasant and monarch. The mightiest 
 man on earth was utterly powerless to save his 
 friend, and the day would come when he and 
 the lovely girl who was to be his bride would 
 be equall}' powerless to prolong their own lives. 
 In such a presence the distinctions of earth 
 seemed narrowed and distorted. 
 
 " Sir," said the dying man, " m}^ last prayer 
 is that you and Hilda may be happy. She is 
 the noblest woman I have ever met. You 
 once told me," he said, turning to her, " that j'ou 
 felt for me a sister's love. Will you before I 
 die give me a sister's kiss and blessing ? " 
 Hilda, utterly unable to control her sobs, bent 
 down and pressed a kiss upon his lips. It 
 seemed as if life passed away at that very 
 
CONCL USION. 305 
 
 moment. He never moved or spoke again. 
 He was buried in the grounds oi" one of the 
 royal residences, and the Emperor and Hilda 
 erected a splendid monument to his memory. 
 No year ever passed without their visiting the 
 grave of the man who had served them so well. 
 Their marriage was deferred for a month 
 in consequence of Colonel Laurient's death^ 
 but the ceremony was a grand one. Nothing 
 was wanting in the way of pomp and display 
 to invest it with the utmost importance. 
 Throughout the whole Empire there were great 
 rejoicings. It really appeared as if the Emperor 
 could not have made a more popular marriage, 
 and that unalloyed happiness was in store for 
 him and his bride. 
 
 20 
 
EPILOGUE. 
 
EPILOGUE. 
 
 '' I '""WENTY 3'ears have passed. The 
 -* Emperor is nearl}^ fifty, and the Empress 
 is no longer young. They have preserved their 
 good looks; but on the countenance of each is a 
 , settled melancholy expression, wanting in the 
 days which preceded their marriage. Their 
 union seemed to promise a happy life, no 
 cloud showed itself on the horizon of their new 
 existence, and yet sadness proved to be its 
 prominent feature. A year after their marriage 
 a son was born, amidst extravagant rejoicings 
 throughout the Empire. Another yeai- wit- 
 nessed the birth of a daughter, and a third 
 child was shortly expected, wlien a terrible 
 event occurred. A small dog, a great favourite 
 of the child, slightly bit the young prince. The 
 animal proved to be mad, a fact unsuspected 
 
310 AjY.VO DOM TNI -JOOO. 
 
 until ton Inte to apply adequate remedial mea- 
 sures to the bo}', and the heir to the Empire 
 died amidst horrible suffering. The grief of the 
 parents maybe better imagined than described. 
 The third child, a bo}', was prematurely boi-n, 
 and grew up weak and sickly. Two more 
 children were subsequently' born, but both 
 died in early childhood. The princess, the 
 elder-born of the two survivors, grew into a 
 beautiful woman. She was over eighteen 
 years old when this history reopens. Her 
 brother was a year younger. The contrast 
 l>etween the two was remarkable. Princess 
 V^ictoria was a fine, healthy girl, with a lovely 
 complexion. She inherited hermother's beaut}- 
 and her father's dignity and grace of manner. 
 She was the idol of every one with whom she 
 came in contact. The charm and fascination 
 of her demeanour were enhanced by the dignity 
 of presence which never forsook her. Her 
 brother, poor boy, was thin and delicate-looking, 
 and a constant invalid, though not afflicted 
 with any organic disease. They both were 
 clever, but their tastes were widely apart. 
 
EPILOGUE. 311 
 
 The Princess was an accomplislie.i linguist ; and 
 few excelled her in knowledge of histoiy, past 
 and contemporaneous. She took great interest 
 in public affairs. No statesman was better 
 acquainted with the innumerable conditions 
 which cumbered the outward seeming of affairs 
 of state. Prince Albert Edward, on the con- 
 trary, took no heed of public aftairs. He rarel}' 
 read a newspaper ; but he was a profound 
 mathematician, a constant student of phj'sical 
 laws : and, above all, he had a love for the study 
 of human character. When only sixteen, he 
 gained a gold medal for a paper sent in 
 anonymously to the Imperial Institute, dealing 
 with the influence of circumstances and events 
 upon mental and moral development. The 
 essay was very deep, and embodied some new 
 and rather startling theories, closely reasoned, 
 as to the effects of training and education. 
 
 The Princess was her father's idol ; and 
 though he was too just to wish to prejudice 
 his son's rights, he could not without bitter 
 regret remember that but for his action long- 
 ago his daughter would have been heiress 
 
312 AXNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 to the throne. Fate, with strange irony, had 
 made the Empress also alter her views. The 
 weak and sickly son had been the special 
 object oflong years of care. The poor mother, 
 bereaved of three children out of five, clung 
 to this weak offspring as the shipwrecked sailor 
 to the plank which is his sole chance of life. 
 The ver}' notion of the loved son losing the 
 succession was a cruel shock to her. The 
 theoretical views which she shared with Mrs. 
 Hardinge years since, were a weak barrier 
 to the promptings of maternal love. 
 
 So it happened that the Emperor ardently 
 regretted that he had prevented the proposed 
 change in the order of succession, and the 
 Empress as much rejoiced that the views of 
 her party had not prevailed. But the Emperor 
 was essentially a just man. He recognised 
 that before children had been born to him 
 the question was open to treatment, but that 
 it was different now when his son enjoyed 
 personal rights. Ardent!}' as he desired his 
 daughter should reign, he would not on an}' 
 consideration agree that his son should be set 
 
EPILOGUE. 313 
 
 aside without his own free and full consent. 
 Wliat annoyed him most was the fallacy of 
 his own arguments long ago. It will be remem- 
 bered, he had laid chief stress on the probability 
 that the female succession would reduce the 
 chance of the armies being led by the Emperor 
 in person in case of war. But it was certain 
 that, if his son succeeded, he would not head 
 the army in battle. The young Prince had 
 passed through the military training pre- 
 scribed for every male subject of the Empire, 
 but he had no taste for military knowledge. 
 Not that he wanted courage ; on the contrary, 
 he had displayed conspicuous bravery on several 
 occasions. Once he had jumped off a yacht 
 in rough weather to save one of his staff wlio 
 had fallen overboard ; and on another occasion, 
 when a fire took place at sea, he was cooler and 
 less terror-stricken than any of the persons who 
 surrounded him. But for objects and studies 
 of a militant character lie had an aversion, 
 almost a contempt ; and it was certain he never 
 would become a great geneial. The fallacy 
 of his principal objection to the change in the 
 
314 AA^NO DOMINI 20n0. 
 
 order of succession was thur> brought home 
 to the Emperor with hitter emphasis. 
 
 Perhaps the worst effect of all was the 
 wall of estrangement that was being built 
 up between him and the Fnipi-ess. When 
 two people constantly in communication feel 
 themselves prevented from discussing the sub- 
 ject nearest to the heart and most constant 
 to the mind of each, estrangement must grow 
 up, no matter how great may be their mutual 
 love. The Emperor and Empress loved each 
 other as much as ever, but to both the discus- 
 sion of the question of succession was fraupht 
 with bitter pain. 
 
 The time had, however, come when they 
 must discuss it. The Princess had already 
 reached her legal majority, and the Prince 
 would shortly arrive at the age which was 
 prescribed as the majority of the heir to the 
 throne. His own unfitness for the sovereignty 
 and the exceeding suitability of his sister were 
 widel}' known, and the newspapers had just 
 commenced a warm discussion on the subject. 
 The Cabinet, too, were inclined to take action. 
 
EPILOGUE. 315 
 
 Many 3'rars since, Mrs. Hardinge died quite 
 snddenly of heart disease ; and Lady Cairo 
 had for a long period filled the post of Prime 
 Minister. Lady Garstairs, uce Phoebe Bnller, 
 was leader of the Opposition. She was still 
 a close friend of the Empress, and she shared 
 the opinion of her imperial mistress that the 
 subject had better not be dealt with. But 
 Lady Cairo, who had always thought it ought 
 to have been settled before the Emperor's 
 marriage, was very much embarrassed now by 
 the strong and general demand that the question 
 should be immediately reopened. She had 
 several interviews with the Emperor on the 
 subject. His Majesty did not conceal his 
 personal desire that his daughter should 
 succeed, or his opinion that she was signally 
 fitted for the position ; but nothing, he de- 
 clared, would induce him to allow his son's 
 rights to be assailed without the Prince's full 
 and free consent. Meanwhile tlie Prince 
 showed no sign. It seemed as if he alone 
 of all the subjects of the Empire knew and 
 cared nothing about the matter. He rarely 
 
3i6 AALVO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 spoke of public aft'airs, and scarcely ever read 
 the newspapers, especially those portions of 
 them devoted to politics. 
 
 The Emperor felt a discussion with the 
 Empress could no longer be avoided ; and we 
 meet them once more at a long and painful 
 interview, in which they unburdened the 
 thoughts which each had concealed from the 
 other for years past. 
 
 "Dear Hilda," said the Emperor, "do not 
 misunderstand me. I would rather renounce 
 the crown than allow our son's rights to be 
 prejudiced without his approval." 
 
 "Yes, yes, I understand that," said the 
 Empress ; " and I recognise 3'our sense of 
 justice. I do not think that you love Albert 
 as much as you do Victoria, and you certainly 
 have not that pride in him which you have 
 in her ; whilst I — I love m}' boy, and cannot 
 bear that he should suffer." 
 
 "My dear," said the Emperor, "that is 
 where we differ, I love Albert, and I admire 
 his high character; but I do not think it 
 would be for his happiness that he should 
 
EPILOGUE. 317 
 
 reign, nor that he should now rehnquish all 
 the studies in which he delights, in order to 
 take his proper position as heir to the throne. 
 In a few weeks he will be of age ; and if he 
 is to succeed me, duties of a most onerous and 
 constant character will devolve on him. He 
 is, I will do him the justice to say, too con- 
 scientious to neglect his duty ; and 1 believe 
 he will endeavour to attend to public affairs 
 and cast away all those studies that most 
 delight him : but the change will make him 
 miseiable." 
 
 " You are a wise judge of the hearts and 
 ways of men and women, and it would ill 
 become me to disregard your opinion ; but, 
 Albert, does it not occur to you that our Albert 
 might live to regret any renunciation he made 
 in earlier life ? " 
 
 "I admit the possibihty," said the Emperor; 
 " but he is stable and mature beyond his years. 
 His dream is to benefit mankind by the studies 
 he pursues. He has already met with great 
 success in those studies, and I think they will 
 bring their own re^vard ; but should anything 
 
3i8 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 occur to make him renounce them, he may, I 
 admit, lament too late the might-have-been." 
 
 "Supposing," said the Empress, " he married 
 an ambitious wife and had sons like you were, 
 dear Albert, in your young manhood ?" 
 
 "One cannot judge one's sell"; yet I think I 
 should have accepted whatever was my position, 
 and not have allowed vain repinings to prevent 
 my endeavouring to perform the duties that 
 devolved on me." 
 
 " Forgive me, Albert, for doubling it. You 
 would, I am sure, have been true to yourself." 
 
 " You confirm my own impression. Recollect, 
 Hilda, true ambition prompts to legitimate 
 effort, not to vain grief for the unattainable. 
 It may be that Victoria's own children will 
 succeed ; but Albert's children, if they are 
 ambitious, will not be denied a brilliant career." 
 
 " I cannot argue the matter, for it is useless 
 to deny that I refuse to sec our son as he is. 
 I love him to devotion, yet the grief is always 
 with me that the son is not like the father." 
 
 "Hilda dear, he is not like the father in 
 some respects ; but the very difference perhaps 
 
EPILOGUE. 319^ 
 
 partakes of the higher Hie. When the last 
 day comes to him and to me, who sliall i-^ay 
 that he will not look back to his conduct 
 through life with more satislaction than 1 shall 
 be able to do ? " 
 
 " I will not allow you to underrate yourself. 
 You are faultless in my e3'es. No human 
 being has ever had cause to complain of you." 
 
 "Tut ! tut ! You are too partial a judge." But 
 he kissed her tenderly, and his eyes gleamed 
 with a pleasure for a very long while unknown 
 to them, as she brought to him the conviction 
 that the love and admiration of her youth had 
 survived all the sorrows of their after-lives, 
 
 At this juncture the Prince entered the room. 
 " Pardon me," he said. " I thought my mother 
 was alone ; " and he was about to retire. The 
 Emperor looked at the Empress, and he gathered 
 from her answering glance that she shared 
 with him the desire that all reserve and con- 
 cealment should be at an end. In a moment 
 his resolution was formed. Mrs son should 
 know everything and decide for himself. 
 
 " Stay, Albert," he said. ' I am glad to have 
 
320 AMNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 an opportunity of talking with you in the pre- 
 sence of your mother." 
 
 " I am equally glad, Sir. Indeed, I should 
 have asked you later in the day to have given 
 me an audience." 
 
 "Why do you wish to see me?" said the 
 Emperor, who in a moment suspected what 
 proved to be the case : that his son antici- 
 pated his own wish for an exchange of con- 
 fidence. 
 
 " During the last few days it has become 
 known to me, Sir, that a controversy is going 
 on respecting the order of succession to the 
 throne. 1 have," producing a small package, 
 "cuttings from sume of the principal news- 
 papers from which I gather there is a strong 
 opinion in favour of a change in the order of 
 succession. I glean from them that by far the 
 larger number are agreed on the point that 
 it would be better my sister should succeed 
 to you." He paused a moment, and then in a 
 clear and distinct tone said, " I am of the same 
 opinion." 
 
 The Empress interposed. " Are you sure 
 
EPILOGUE. 321 
 
 of your own mind ? Do you recognise what 
 it is you would renounce — the position of 
 foremost ruler on the wide globe ? " 
 
 " I think I reaUse it. I am not much given 
 to the study of contemporaneous history, but 
 I am well acquainted with all the circumstances 
 of my father's great career." The parents 
 looked at each other in surprise. " Yes ; there 
 is no one," he resumed, " who is more proud of 
 the Emperor than his only son." 
 
 With much emotion the father clasped the 
 son's hand. "What is it you wish, Albert? " he 
 said. 
 
 " I would like Victoria to be present if you 
 would not mind," replied the Prince, looking at 
 his mother. "May I fetch her ? " 
 
 The Empress nodded. " You will find her 
 in the next room." 
 
 The Princess Victoria was a lovely and 
 splendid girl. It was impossible to look at her 
 without feeling that she would adorn the 
 highest position. The Emperor's face lighted 
 up as he glanced at her; and the Empress, 
 much impressed with what her husband had said, 
 
 21 
 
322 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 kissed the Princess with unusual tenderness. 
 She probably wished her daughter to feel that 
 she was not averse to any issue whch might 
 result from the momentous interview about to 
 take place. 
 
 " Sir," said the young Prince, addressing hfs 
 father, " I know how important your time is, so 
 I will not prolong what I wish to say. Until I 
 saw these papers," holding up the extracts, " I 
 confess I was unaware of the great interest 
 which is now being taken in the question of 
 the succession. But I cannot assert that the 
 subject is new to me ; on the contrary, I have 
 thought it over deeply, and it was my intention 
 to speak to you about it when in a few weeks 
 I should attain my majority." 
 
 " My dear boy, pray believe that it was 
 through consideration to you I have refrained 
 from speaking to you on the subject." 
 
 " I knofi^ it, Sir, and thank you," said the boy 
 with feeUng ; " but the time has come when 
 there must be no longer any reserve between 
 us. You know, I do not take much interest 
 in public affairs, and I fear it has grieved you 
 
EPILOGUE. 323 
 
 that my inclinations have been so alien to what 
 my position as heir to the throne required. But 
 I am not unacquainted with the principles of 
 the constitution of the Empire. I will not 
 pretend that I have studied them from a 
 statesman's point of view. They have ab- 
 sorbed my attention in the course of my 
 favourite study of human character. I have 
 closely (if it did not seem conceited, I might 
 say philosophically) investigated the Constitu- 
 tion with the object of determining to what 
 extent it operates as an educational medium 
 affecting the character of the nation. The 
 question of the succession is settled by the 
 Constitution Act, and no alteration is possible 
 in justice, that does not fully reserve the rights 
 of all living beings. I am first in the order of 
 succession, and no law of man can take it from 
 me excepting with my full consent." 
 
 "Albert," interrupted the Emperor, "you 
 say rightly ; and I assure you that I am fully 
 prepared to adopt this view. No consideration 
 will induce me to consent to any alteration which 
 will prejudice you excepting with your own 
 
324 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 desire ; and indeed I am doubtful if even with 
 your desire I should be justified in allowing 
 you at so early a period of your life to make 
 a renunciation." 
 
 " I am grateful, Sir, for this assurance. Its 
 memory will live in my mind. And now let 
 me say that, having for a long while considered 
 the subject with the utmost attention I could 
 give to it, I am of opinion that the present law 
 by which the female succession is partly barred 
 is not a just one. I will not, however, say that 
 it ought to be altered against a living repre- 
 sentative ; but I decidedly think that it should 
 be amended as regards those unborn. The 
 decision I have come to then does not depend 
 upon the amendment in the Constitution which I 
 believe to be desirable. It arises from personal 
 causes. I believe that my sister Victoria is 
 as specially fitted for the dignity and functions 
 of empress, as I am the reverse." 
 
 The Princess Victoria started up in great 
 agitation. She was not without ambition, and 
 it could not be questioned that the position of 
 empress had fascinating attraction for her 
 
EPILOGUE. 325 
 
 active mind and courageous spirit. But she 
 dearly loved her brother, and her predomi- 
 nant feeling at the moment was regard for 
 his interests. "Albert," she said with great 
 energy, " I will not have you make any sacri- 
 fice for me. You will be a good and clever 
 man, and will adorn whatever position you are 
 called to." 
 
 "I thank you, Victoria," said the boy gravely. 
 " I am delighted that you think so well of me. 
 But you must not consider I am making a 
 sacrifice. My inclinations are entirely against 
 public life. The position of next heir, and in 
 time of emperor, would give me no pleasure. 
 My ambition — and I am not without it — points 
 to triumphs of a different kind. No success in 
 the council or in the field would give me the 
 gratification that the reception of my paper by 
 the Imperial Institute occasioned me, and the 
 gold medal which I gained without my name as 
 author being known. Why I have dwelt on 
 your fitness for the position, Victoria, is because 
 I do not believe that I should be justified in 
 renouncing the succession unless I could 
 
326 AA^A^O DOMINI 2000. 
 
 honestly feel that a better person would take 
 my place." 
 
 ''Albert," interposed the Empress, "let your 
 mother say a word before you proceed further. 
 I will not interfere with any decision that may 
 be arrived at. I leave that to your father, in 
 whose wisdom I have implicit faith. But I 
 must ask you, Have you thought over all 
 contingencies, not only of what has happened 
 in the past or of what is now occurring, but of 
 what the future may have in store ? " 
 
 " I have, my mother, thought over the future 
 as well as the past." 
 
 " You may marry, Albert. Your wife may 
 grieve for the position you have renounced ; 
 you may have children : they may inherit your 
 father's grand qualities. Will you yourself not 
 grieve to see them subordinate to their cousins, 
 your sister's children ? " 
 
 " Mother, I probably shall not marry ; and if 
 I do, my renunciation of the succession will 
 justify me in marrying as my heart dictates, and 
 not to satisfy State exigencies. I shall be 
 well assured that whomever I marry will be 
 
EPILOGUE. 327 
 
 content to take me for myself, and not for 
 what I might have been. As to the children, 
 they will be educated to the station to which 
 they will belong, surely a sufficiently exalted 
 one." 
 
 The Emperor now interposed. " You are 
 young," he said, " to speak of wife and children; 
 but you have spoken with the sense and 
 discretion of mature years. I understand, that 
 if you renounce the succession, you will do so in 
 the full belief that you will be consulting your 
 own happiness and not injuring those who might 
 be your subjects, because you leave to them a 
 good substitute in your sister." 
 
 " You have rightly described my sentiments," 
 said the boy. 
 
 " Then, Albert," said the Emperor, " I will 
 give my consent to the introduction of a 
 measure that, preserving your rights, will as 
 regards the future give to females an equal 
 right with males to the succession. As regards 
 yourself, I think the Act should give you after 
 your majority a right, entirely depending on 
 your own discretion, of renunciation in favour 
 
328 ANNO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 of your sister, and provide that such renuncia- 
 tion shall be finally operative." 
 
 Our history for the present ends with the 
 passage of the Act described by the Emperor ; 
 an Act considered to be especially memorable, 
 since it removed the last disability under which 
 the female sex laboured. 
 
 It is perhaps desirable to explain that three 
 leading features have been kept in view in the 
 production of the foregoing anticipation of the 
 future. 
 
 First, it has been designed to show that a 
 recognised dominance of either sex is unneces- 
 sary, and that men and women may take part 
 in the affairs of the world on terms of equality, 
 each member of either sex enjoying the position 
 to which he or she is entitled by reason of his 
 or her qualifications. 
 
 The second object is to suggest that the 
 materials are to hand for fonning the dominions 
 of Great Britain into a powerful and beneficent 
 empire. 
 
EPILOGUE. 329 
 
 The third purpose is to attract consideration 
 to the question as to whether it is not possible 
 to relieve the misery under which a large 
 portion of mankind languishes on account of 
 extreme poverty and destitution. The writer 
 has a strong conviction that every human 
 being is entitled to a sufficiency of food and 
 clothing and to decent lodging whether or not 
 he or she is willing to or capable of work. He 
 hates the idea of anything approaching to Com- 
 munism, as it would be fatal to energy and 
 ambition, two of the most ennobhng qualities 
 with which human beings are endowed. But 
 there is no reason to fear that ambition would 
 be deadened because the lowest scale of life 
 commenced with sufficiency of sustenance. 
 Experience, on the contrary, shows that the 
 higher the social status the more keen ambi- 
 tion becomes. Aspiration is most numbed in 
 those whose existence is walled round with 
 constant privation. Figures would of course 
 indicate that the cost of the additional provision 
 would be enormous, but the increase is m.ore 
 seeming than real. Every commodity that 
 
530 AAWO DOMINI 2000. 
 
 man uses is obtained by an expenditure of 
 more or less human labour. The extra cost 
 would mean extra employment and profit to 
 vast numbers of people, and the earth itself is 
 capable of an indefinite increase of the pro- 
 ducts which are necessary to man's use. The 
 additional employment available would in time 
 make work a privilege, not a burden ; and the 
 objects of the truest sympathy would be those 
 who would not or who could not work. The 
 theory of forcing a person to labour would be no 
 more recognised than one of forcing a person to 
 listen to music or to view works of art. Of 
 course it will be urged that natives of countries 
 where the earth is prolific are not, as a rule, 
 industrious. But this fact must be viewed 
 in connection with that other fact that to these 
 countries the higher aims which grow in the 
 path of civilisation have not penetrated. An 
 incalculable increase of wealth, position, and 
 authority would accompany an ameliorated con- 
 dition of the proletariat, so that the scope of 
 ambition would be proportionately enlarged. 
 There would still be much variety of human 
 
EPILOGUE. 331 
 
 woe and joy; and though the lowest rung of 
 the ladder would not descend to the present 
 abysmal depth of destitution and degradation, 
 the intensely comprehensive line of the poet 
 would continue as monumental as ever,— 
 
 '<The meanest hind in miser>-'s sad train still looks 
 beneath him." 
 
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 BY MRS. RIDDELL. 
 
 AUSTIN FRIARS. 
 
 TOO MUCH ALONE. 
 
 THE RICH HUSBAND. 
 
 MAXWELL DREWITT. 
 
 FAR ABOVE RUBIES. 
 
 A LIFE'S ASSIZE. 
 
 THE WORLD IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 HOME, SWEET HOME. 
 
 PHEMIE KELLER. 
 
 RACE FOR WEALTH. 
 
 THE EARL'S PROMISE. 
 
 MORTOMLEY'S ESTATE. 
 
 FRANK SINCLAIRfS WIFE. 
 
 THE RULING PASSION. 
 
 MY FIRST AND MY LAST LOVE. 
 
 CITY AND SUBURB. 
 
 ABOVE SUSPICION. 
 
 JOY AFTER SORROW. 
 
 BY FLORENCE MARRYAT. 
 
 GERALD ESTCOURT. 
 LOVE'S CONFLICT. 
 TOO GOOD FOR HIM. 
 WOMAN AGAINST WOMAN. 
 FOR EVER AND EVER. 
 NELLY BROOKE. 
 VERONIQUE. 
 
 HER LORD AND MASTER. 
 THE PREY OF THE GODS. 
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SECOND EDITION. JUST PUBLISHED. 
 
 LETTS'S POPULAR ATLAS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 A series of 156 Maps and Plans (size of each, 17 inches by 14), 
 deUneating the whole surface of the globe, and containing many 
 original and interesting features not to be found in any other atlas, 
 with a copious consulting index of 100,000 names. 
 
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 N.B. — This Alias has had by far the largest sale of any collection of maps 
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 £. 
 
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 .1 
 
 
 
 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "To notice adequately this extraordinary work is beyond our power. 
 Unless such a feat had been done, we should have doubted if it were 
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 cheapest full compendium of geographical information to be obtained, and 
 the mounted form one of the most handsome." — Saturday Review. 
 
 "For general reference in all matters connected with commercial 
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 than this atlas." — Royal Geogrcip/iical Society's Proceedings. 
 
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 merely information regarding geographical and political divisions, or facts 
 in physical geography in its widest sense, but numerous other kinds of 
 valuable information." — Daily A'eivs. 
 
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 Letts s atlas may be pronounced a durable and exhaustive one." — 
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 London .Weivs. 
 
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 LoEdon : HTJTCHINSON & CO , 25, Paternoster Square. 
 

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