Soon after the Voivode had
    gone, it was reported that he might be long delayed in his
    diplomacies, and also in studying the system of Constitutional
    Monarchy, for which it had been hoped to exchange our imperfect
    political system. I may say _inter alia_ that he was mentioned as to
    be the first king when the new constitution should have been
    arranged. Then a great misfortune came on us; a terrible grief overshadowed the
    land. After a short illness, the Voivodin Teuta Vissarion died
    mysteriously of a mysterious ailment. The grief of the mountaineers
    was so great that it became necessary for the governing Council to
    warn them not to allow their sorrow to be seen. It was imperatively
    necessary that the fact of her death should be kept secret. For
    there were dangers and difficulties of several kinds. In the first
    place it was advisable that even her father should be kept in
    ignorance of his terrible loss. It was well known that he held her
    as the very core of his heart and that if he should hear of her
    death, he would be too much prostrated to be able to do the intricate
    and delicate work which he had undertaken. Nay, more: he would never
    remain afar off, under the sad circumstances, but would straightway
    return, so as to be in the land where she lay. Then suspicions would
    crop up, and the truth must shortly be known afield, with the
    inevitable result that the Land would become the very centre of a war
    of many nations. In the second place, if the Turks were to know that the race of
    Vissarion was becoming extinct, this would encourage them to further
    aggression, which would become immediate should they find out that
    the Voivode was himself away. It was well known that they were
    already only suspending hostilities until a fitting opportunity
    should arise. Their desire for aggression had become acute after the
    refusal of the nation, and of the girl herself, that she should
    become a wife of the Sultan. The dead girl had been buried in the Crypt of the church of St. Sava,
    and day after day and night after night, singly and in parties, the
    sorrowing mountaineers had come to pay devotion and reverence at her
    tomb. So many had wished to have a last glimpse of her face that the
    Vladika had, with my own consent as Archbishop, arranged for a glass
    cover to be put over the stone coffin wherein her body lay. After a little time, however, there came a belief to all concerned in
    the guarding of the body--these, of course, being the priests of
    various degrees of dignity appointed to the task--that the Voivodin
    was not really dead, but only in a strangely-prolonged trance. Thereupon a new complication arose. Our mountaineers are, as perhaps
    you know, by nature deeply suspicious--a characteristic of all brave
    and self-sacrificing people who are jealous of their noble heritage. Having, as they believed, seen the girl dead, they might not be
    willing to accept the fact of her being alive. They might even
    imagine that there was on foot some deep, dark plot which was, or
    might be, a menace, now or hereafter, to their independence. In any
    case, there would be certain to be two parties on the subject, a
    dangerous and deplorable thing in the present condition of affairs. As the trance, or catalepsy, whatever it was, continued for many
    days, there had been ample time for the leaders of the Council, the
    Vladika, the priesthood represented by the Archimandrite of Spazac,
    myself as Archbishop and guardian of the Voivodin in her father's
    absence, to consult as to a policy to be observed in case of the girl
    awaking. For in such case the difficulty of the situation would be
    multiplied indefinitely. In the secret chambers of St. Sava's we had
    many secret meetings, and were finally converging on agreement when
    the end of the trance came. The girl awoke! She was, of course, terribly frightened when she found herself in a
    tomb in the Crypt. It was truly fortunate that the great candles
    around her tomb had been kept lighted, for their light mitigated the
    horror of the place. Had she waked in darkness, her reason might
    have become unseated. She was, however, a very noble girl; brave, with extraordinary will,
    and resolution, and self-command, and power of endurance. When she
    had been taken into one of the secret chambers of the church, where
    she was warmed and cared for, a hurried meeting was held by the
    Vladika, myself, and the chiefs of the National Council. Word had
    been at once sent to me of the joyful news of her recovery; and with
    the utmost haste I came, arriving in time to take a part in the
    Council. At the meeting the Voivodin was herself present, and full confidence
    of the situation was made to her. She herself proposed that the
    belief in her death should be allowed to prevail until the return of
    her father, when all could be effectively made clear. To this end
    she undertook to submit to the terrific strain which such a
    proceeding would involve. At first we men could not believe that any
    woman could go through with such a task, and some of us did not
    hesitate to voice our doubts--our disbelief. But she stood to her
    guns, and actually down-faced us. At the last we, remembering things
    that had been done, though long ages ago, by others of her race, came
    to believe not merely in her self-belief and intention, but even in
    the feasibility of her plan. She took the most solemn oaths not to
    betray the secret under any possible stress. The priesthood undertook through the Vladika and myself to further a
    ghostly belief amongst the mountaineers which would tend to prevent a
    too close or too persistent observation. The Vampire legend was
    spread as a protection against partial discovery by any mischance,
    and other weird beliefs were set afoot and fostered. Arrangements
    were made that only on certain days were the mountaineers to be
    admitted to the Crypt, she agreeing that for these occasions she was
    to take opiates or carry out any other aid to the preservation of the
    secret. She was willing, she impressed upon us, to make any personal
    sacrifice which might be deemed necessary for the carrying out her
    father's task for the good of the nation. Of course, she had at first terrible frights lying alone in the
    horror of the Crypt. But after a time the terrors of the situation,
    if they did not cease, were mitigated. There are secret caverns off
    the Crypt, wherein in troublous times the priests and others of high
    place have found safe retreat. One of these was prepared for the
    Voivodin, and there she remained, except for such times as she was on
    show--and certain other times of which I shall tell you.