"As you please," Nigel answered.
"It is not the custom of my country, or of my life," Prince Shan continued, "to covet or steal the things which belong to another. If fate has made me a thief, I am very sorry. I have proposed to Lady Maggie that she accompany me back to China. It is my great desire that she should become my wife."
Nigel felt himself curiously tongue-tied. There was something in the other's measured speech, so fateful, so assured, that it seemed almost as though he were speaking of pre-ordained things. Much that had seemed to him impossible and unnatural in such an idea disappeared from that moment.
"You tell me this," Nigel began—
"I announce it to you as the head of the family," Prince Shan interrupted.
"You tell it to me also," Nigel persisted, "because you have heard the rumours which were at one time very prevalent—that Lady Maggie and I were or were about to become engaged to be married."
"I have heard such a rumour only very indirectly," Prince Shan confessed, "and I cannot admit that it has made any difference in my attitude. I think, in my land and yours, we have at least one common convention. The woman who touches our heart is ours if we may win her. Love is unalterably selfish. One must fight for one's own hand. And for those who may suffer by our victory, we may have pity but no consideration."
"Am I to understand," Nigel asked bluntly, "that Lady Maggie has consented to be your wife?"
"Lady Maggie has given me no reply. I left her alone with her thoughts. Every hour it is my hope to hear from her. She knows that I leave for China early to-morrow."
"So at the present moment you are in suspense."