Canolles understood all that her glance said to him; but he hardened himself against its seductive eloquence, and answered it in spoken words:—
"Impossible, madame; my orders are explicit."
"Let everything be done as you choose, then, monsieur, as you have no consideration for rank or position. Go; these ladies will take you to my son's bedside."
"Might not these ladies, instead of taking me to your son, bring your son to you, madame? It seems to me that that would be infinitely preferable."
"Why so, monsieur?" inquired the false princess, evidently more disturbed by this latest request than by any previous one.,
"Because, in the meantime, I could communicate to your Highness a part of my mission which must be communicated to you alone."
"To me alone?"
"To you alone," Canolles replied, with a lower reverence than any he had achieved as yet.
The princess's expression, which had changed from dignity to supplication, and from supplication to anxiety, now changed once more to abject terror, as she fixed her eyes upon Canolles' face.