“I will take it in water, then.”
“You can take it in wine, if you like. I have some here.”
She moved to a small cupboard in the wall.
“I shall tell them that I gave it to you in wine, in any case,” she added.
“I prefer water, thank you. May I fetch some from the next room?”
“I will fetch it,” she said hastily, going to the bedroom.
On an ebony stand beside me there was a large china bowl containing a flowering plant in its pot. In a second I had removed the stopper, emptied the bottle into the space between the flower-pot and the outer bowl, and put the stopper back again.
“Tell me,” I said to the Princess as she hurried back with a carafe and tumbler, “have you thought how I am to get away from this house without exciting attention?”
“It will be easy for me to procure you a dozen disguises. I am always going to masked balls. But are you in such a hurry to leave me?”
“I shall find the air of your oratory rather confined, I am afraid.”