“I am sorry to hear you talk like this,” he answered. “The King has not willingly affronted you. It was your brother to whom he owes his throne. He has not forgotten it—he is never likely to forget it. He regarded you both as his best friends here. As for Sara Van Decht, the King would take no step without the sanction and consent of his people. She will be one of the richest women in Europe, and the whole of her dowry would be spent for the good of Theos. Even then if the voice of the people were against it the King would yield. The one aim of his life is the welfare of Theos and her people.”
“So far in his care of them,” she said, scornfully, “he has met with but little success. When before have the Turks crossed the frontier of our territory? When before have we been in such grievous straits as these?”
“For these things,” he answered, “the King is blameless. This invasion of Theos is a long planned undertaking. Nothing could have stopped it. I believe that no other man in the world would have met the situation with so much skill and so resourcefully.”
She was silent for a moment. Her very calmness seemed ominous. It seemed to him that underneath she was trembling with passion.
“Marie,” he said, “I wonder that you are so blinded by this senseless prejudice against the King. But leave him for the moment out of the question. You love your country. For centuries the name of your family has been a great one in the history of Theos. Yet to-day both you and your brother are making a terrible mistake. You are drifting towards her enemies.”
“Enough!” she cried. “I can see that you are still for the King.”
“Most surely,” he answered.
“You will not discontinue those letters?”
“No!”