"She is a queen. She will not be captured. I should have stopped——?"
"You should never have gone after her. And she would have been yours now."
Frans seated himself again as if a heavy weight were pressing on his shoulders.
"Did she say anything?" asked Alice with a searching look.
He would have preferred not to tell, but the question was repeated.
"She said that I was no gentleman."
Alice declared this to be too bad. Frans then asked if Mary had said anything to her in the carriage.
"Not a word. But I spoke. I abused you—well."
"She has not referred to the matter since?"
Alice shook her head. "Your name is erased from her dictionary, my friend."