The King laughed.
“He’s no lady’s man.”
“Sara has instinct,” her father remarked. “Can’t say I take to him myself. There’s a kink in the man somewhere.”
Ughtred smiled.
“Well, it isn’t in his loyalty or his bravery,” Ughtred answered. “He is my best soldier, my most capable adviser, and I owe him my kingdom.”
Van Decht abandoned the subject.
“I’ll get along,” he said, rising. “Take my advice. Lie down a bit till your message comes along. You’re looking pretty bad.”
Ughtred smiled.
“The first day of war,” he said, “even on a small scale, is the most wearing. Later on we shall take things more easily. Only you must remember, sir, that it is for the liberty of an ancient kingdom we fight, not only for our own lives, but for the happiness of unborn generations. I would sooner see Theos blotted out forever from the map of Europe and the memory of man than have her exist a vassal state of Russia.”
Mr. Van Decht departed in respectful silence. If tradition or sentiment appealed to him but slightly, he knew an honest man by instinct, and he was fast drifting into a very close sympathy with his future son-in-law.