“I’m willing to give the king a try,” said Selden. “Perhaps the war has taught him something. If he doesn’t make good, he can always be fired out again.”
“It won’t be so easy the next time,” Scott pointed out. “Besides, it isn’t the king—it’s Danilo. There is one detail you didn’t mention.”
“What is it?”
“That he has a morganatic wife. It’s perfectly well known in Paris. These fellows are all going to play it up.”
“Are they?”
“One of them has even dug up an old picture of her—as a ballet dancer.”
“Was she a ballet dancer?”
“Yes—at the Opéra. But you don’t mean to tell me you didn’t know about it?”
“Yes, I knew about it; but look here, Scott—she may have been a ballet dancer—I don’t know; but I met her to-day and I found her an extraordinary woman.”
“Is she staying here?” Scott inquired.