CHAPTER XII.
BEFORE THEM ALL!
GREAT as was the risk and immense as were the difficulties created by the course which Mr. Rassendyll adopted, I cannot doubt that he acted for the best in the light of the information which he possessed. His plan was to disclose himself to Helsing in the character of the King, to bind him to secrecy, and make him impose the same obligation on his wife, daughter, and servants. The Chancellor was to be quieted with the excuse of urgent business, and conciliated by a promise that he should know its nature in the course of a few hours; meanwhile an appeal to his loyalty must suffice to ensure obedience. If all went well in the day that had now dawned, by the evening of it the letter would be destroyed, the Queen's peril past, and Rudolf once more far away from Strelsau. Then enough of the truth—no more—must be disclosed. Helsing would be told the story of Rudolf Rassendyll and persuaded to hold his tongue about the harum-scarum Englishman (we are ready to believe much of an Englishman) having been audacious
