'
'But everything depends upon it,' said Barizy. 'If he was killed
accidentally, there will be negotiations, but the business will
be compromised; the English want Cyprus, and they will take it as
compensation. If it is an affair of malice prepense, there will be war,
for the laws of England require war if blood royal be spilt.'
The Consul Pasqualigo looked very grave; then, withdrawing his lips for
a moment from his amber mouthpiece, he observed, 'It is a crisis.'
'It will be a crisis,' said Barizy of the Tower, excited by finding
his rival a listener, 'but not for a long time. The crisis has not
commenced. The first question is: to whom does the desert belong; to the
Porte, or to the Viceroy?'
'It depends upon what part of the desert is in question,' said
Pasqualigo.
'Of course the part where it took place. I say the Arabian desert
belongs to the Viceroy; my cousin, Barizy of the Gate, says "No, it
belongs to the Porte." Raphael Tafna says it belongs to neither. The
Bedouins are independent.'
'But they are not recognised,' said the Consul Pasqualigo. 'Without
a diplomatic existence, they are nullities. England will hold all the
recognise powers in the vicinity responsible. You will see! The murder
of an English prince, under such circumstances too, will not pass
unavenged.
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