And now, quite suddenly, without preparation, he had asked her to be his wife!
It seemed incredible, but it was only too true; and what was she to do?
It would have been bad enough if she had been an ordinary English woman, and her insignificance and poverty the only drawbacks; but her position was not so good as that even. There was a blot upon her escutcheon which made it impossible for her to be the wife of any honest man, however humble he might be, least of all the wife of so great a man as Prince Rivani!
She had so completely buried all thought of love in the tomb of the past, that it had never occurred to her that a man might fall in love with her, and now, as she stood before the glass and looked dreamily and sadly at her face, she was bound to admit, and that without vanity, that she was beautiful; but how beautiful, how supremely lovely, she herself did not guess.
But now what was she to do? Improbable and unlikely as it seemed, Prince Rivani had fallen in love with her and asked her to be his wife, and, as it was simply impossible that she should marry him, there was only one course open for her; she must leave the villa and Florence, and at once.
She sighed deeply as the conviction was forced upon her. She had been, after a fashion, almost happy; she had been at peace at any rate with these great people, who had lavished their kindness upon her and won her gratitude and love.
And now she must go! Must leave the kind old lady, who, with all her stateliness, had ever been tender to the unknown English girl; leave Florence who loved her with all the warmth of her young unscathed heart!
She sighed again, and, opening the window, looked out at the night, or rather morning, for midnight had passed some hours since, and as she did so the faint perfume of a cigar floated up to her, and she saw the tall figure of the prince walking to and fro on the terrace beneath. He, too, was sleepless, and thinking of her! She closed the window quietly and was beginning to undress, when there came a knock at the door and the Princess Florence entered.
For the first time Margaret was not glad to see her, but Florence unsuspectingly ran in and put her arm round the white shapely neck.