CHAPTER XXI. THE COMING OF THE DREAM
THERE IS little need, and I have little heart, to dwell on what
followed the death of Mr. Rassendyll. The plans we had laid to
secure his tenure of the throne, in case he had accepted it,
served well in the event of his death. Bauer's lips were for ever
sealed; the old woman was too scared and appalled to hint even to
her gossips of the suspicions she entertained. Rischenheim was
loyal to the pledge he had given to the queen. The ashes of the
hunting-lodge held their secret fast, and none suspected when the
charred body which was called Rudolf Rassendyll's was laid to
quiet rest in the graveyard of the town of Zenda, hard by the
tomb of Herbert the forester. For we had from the first rejected
any idea of bringing the king's body to Strelsau and setting it
in the place of Mr. Rassendyll's. The difficulties of such an
undertaking were almost insuperable; in our hearts we did not
desire to conquer them. As a king Rudolf Rassendyll had died, as
a king let him lie. As a king he lay in his palace at Strelsau,
while the news of his murder at the hands of a confederate of
Rupert of Hentzau went forth to startle and appall the world.
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