He asked what the whole kingdom knew. Save himself, nobody was ignorant of Sophy's whereabouts.
"She is on a visit to his Royal Highness at Praslok, sir." Stenovics's voice was a triumph of neutrality.
"On a visit to the Prince?" Surprise sounded in his voice.
"Madame Zerkovitch is there too, sir," Stenovics added. "The ladies have been there during the whole of the Prince of Slavna's stay."
The King shot a glance at Countess Ellenburg; she was looking prim and grim. He looked, also, at Stafnitz, who bit his mustache, without quite hiding an intentional but apparently irrepressible smile. The King did not look too grave—and most of his gravity was for Countess Ellenburg.
"Is that—hum—at this moment, quite desirable?" he asked.
His question met with silence; the air of all three intimated that the matter was purely one for His Majesty. The King sat a moment with a frown on his brow—the frown which just supplants a smile when a thing, generally amusing and not unnatural, happens by chance to occur inconveniently.
Across this silence came a loud voice from the next room—Lepage's voice. "Take care, take care! You'll upset the flowers, Prince!"
The King started; he looked round at his companions. Then he struck a hand-bell on the table before him. Lepage appeared.
"Lepage, whom did you address as 'Prince' just now?"