"On the contrary, there are two overpowering reasons—her own disinclination, and the attitude of the Imperial authorities at Berlin."
"There may be a third," he growled into his beard, looking sharply at me.
"What is that?" I asked, though I could almost guess his meaning. But he turned the question adroitly.
"That her Majesty would have little wish for a royal marriage with an imperially selected consort chosen by Berlin. Her Majesty has a heart, unfortunately, and God bless her for it."
"That will be all as she pleases," said I quietly. "At any rate, our purpose is to give her the opportunity of declining the throne, and to save her from these villains who would hound her down."
His face grew as dark as night.
"God! if that villain ever dares to cross her path again, I'll run my sword through his carcass, if I die the next minute; and if he doesn't come near her, I'll seek him out the moment this business is through, and make him fight me. He has put not one but a thousand insults on me—and he a traitor all the time. And to think the Prince believed in him implicitly to the last. And so did I."
"Maybe the Prince had not the private knowledge of the man that I had, nor had you," I said unguardedly.
My companion started and looked at me in such surprise that I saw my blunder in a moment.
"You had known him previously?" he asked slowly.