I dashed away my tears.
"I have won," I said, smiling. "I am sure I owe it chiefly to you. The Duke has given me a solemn promise that my father's name shall be cleared."
I looked for a sign of congratulation; but instead, my old friend glanced at me slowly and very shrewdly, and moved on to his chair.
"You are an excellent linguist, but probably do not know the dead languages, Christabel. There is an old tag of Virgil's for instance: 'Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes'."
"I know what that means, at any rate," I cried. "'I fear the Greeks even when bearing gifts.'"
He turned and looked at me again very thoughtfully. Then nodding his head he answered with slow emphasis; "It is possible to learn the meaning of it—even in Pesth."
"You think this is a Greek gift?"
"I think—we may still finish our game of chess, Christabel;" and he came over to the board and examined the position of the men.