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this treason, however: he expects to be named a Grand Duke of Pavonia, with a
commensurate income, an influence on policy, and the hand of Princess Mary in marriage
(she, being in on the plan, is agreeable to the proposal). With no other options for staving
off the speaking of the Word in time, the King agrees to these terms. And so that evening
Conrad takes the chief of police secretly to the place where the conspirators are hiding.
The truth that Conrad reveals, however, is so extraordinary as to leave the poor
chief of police simply stunned. For when he arrives at the hiding place, he finds no one
there at all. Rather, Conrad leads him into a room containing four cupboards, each
holding a costume of one of the four conspirators. At as the chief talks with Conrad, the
truth suddenly dawns on him. The answer--which is really (like the whole revolution) a
kind of joke--lies in the poet's mysterious verse. As Conrad says, "You have heard The
Word twenty times…. We have shouted and bellowed The Word at you all th etime; and
made it as plain as a placard on the wall. The whole secret of this conspiracy is really in
one word; only that we've never kept it a secret" (196). The poet's verse, recall, ended
with the words, "As all stars shrivel in the single sun, / The words are many, but The
Word is one." The trick, however, lies in the emphasis, or, as Conrad puts it, in "which
word you begin with a big letter" (196). The words are many, but the word is: "one." For
as it turns out, there was never any conspiracy at all, only Conrad, playing the parts of the
four plotters. And so he is indeed the "loyal traitor," betraying his fellow conspirators
while remaining true to them, betraying the revolution while promoting its cause.
The part of this interesting story that I wish to examine closely is the conversation
between the Princess Mary and Conrad in prison. When she enters, she says to Conrad,
"We are both subjects of the King and patriots of Pavonia. At least I'm sure you must be
Convention