"Can you keep a secret?" he asked mysteriously.
"Of course," said Hyacinth, deciding at once that it would not matter if she only told Coronel.
"Well, then, listen."
He told her of his secret journey to the King of Barodia's tent; he told her of the King of Barodia's letter; he told her more fully of his early duel with the King; he told her everything that he had said and done; and everything that everybody else had said and done to him; and his boyish pleasure in it all was so evident and so innocent, that even a stranger would have had nothing more reproachful for him than a smile. To Hyacinth he seemed the dearest of fathers and the most wonderful of kings.
And by and by the moment came of which Coronel had spoken.
"And now," said Merriwig, "tell me what you have all been doing with yourselves here. Nothing much, I suppose?"
He waited nervously, wondering if Hyacinth would realise that "all" was meant to include more particularly Belvane.
Hyacinth drew a stool up to her father's chair and sat down very close to him.
"Father," she said, stroking his hand where it rested on his knee, "I have got some news for you."
"Nothing about the Coun—nothing serious, I hope," said Merriwig, in alarm.