"Certainly," said Blair, rising, and still puzzled.
They went into the drawing-room, where Margaret and the princess were sitting very close together, and Blair whispered a few words to Margaret.
She got up directly, and drew the princess' arm through her own.
"Follow me," she said; and she led them to the magnificent studio which Blair had built for her.
Here, amongst costly pictures and rare statues gleaming in the reflected light of antique curtains of deep reds and blues of Oriental dyes, she showed them her latest work.
"Beautiful!" exclaimed the prince. "Beautiful! Ah! if Alfero could but be here! Do you know what he said when I told him that I was coming to see you?"
"No," said Margaret; "but everything that was kind and thoughtful I am sure," she added.
"He told me to convey his devotion to you, and say that he looked forward to the hour when he should be able to kiss your hand; then he sighed and added, 'and tell her not to forget that she is an artist as well as a great English lady. Anybody can be a countess, but Heaven only sends us such a painter as she is at long intervals. Tell her to put the paint-brush and the palette first and her coronet afterward!'"
"That was like him!" said Margaret softly. "How much I owe him! You shall take my answer back, prince. But, see; do you think I have been idle?" and she looked modestly at the pictures on the wall and on the easel.