She set no meaning to my words, treating them as one of love’s sweet extravagances. She came close to me, and whispered:
“Oh, if you were not the King! Then I could show you how I love you! How is it that I love you now, Rudolf?”
“Now?”
“Yes—just lately. I—I never did before.”
Pure triumph filled me. It was I—Rudolf Rassendyll—who had won her! I caught her round the waist.
“You didn’t love me before?” I asked.
She looked up into my face, smiling, as she whispered:
“It must have been your Crown. I felt it first on the Coronation Day.”
“Never before?” I asked eagerly.
She laughed low.