secret, in the light of which everything was explained. The Prince of
Flachsenfingen was a man of a rather weak and evil character, over whom
Horion ruled by sheer force of will. Prince January had had two
children, a boy and a girl, and the English lord had had them brought up
far away from the malicious influences of the court. In order that
January might not interfere in the education of the heir, Horion had
told him that the boy had perished in infancy in London. As a matter of
fact, the child had been brought up with Victor.

"So Flamin is the heir to the throne of Flachsenfingen!" exclaimed
Victor.

"Yes," said Horion, "and I have trained you to guide and direct him in
the same way as I guide and direct his father. For the present, however,
I must have complete control of the matter. Swear that you will not
divulge the secret of Flamin's birth to him or to any one else, before I
give you permission."

For a moment Victor hesitated. He remembered the promise that Flamin had
wrung from him on the watch-tower, and this, he was beginning to see,
might involve him in a perilous misunderstanding.

"Does Clotilda know?" he said.

"I revealed the secret to her when she came to St. Luna," said Horion,
"under the same conditions that I am now revealing it to you. She swore
to reveal it under no circumstances whatever, and you must do the same
before you leave this spot."

So Victor took the oath with a strange mixture of misgiving and joy. As