"I have no right to Wanda's love," replied Leo, angrily. "I am not allowed to call her my betrothed, and the time of our marriage is indefinitely postponed."
"Because the present moment, when your country's welfare is at stake, is no time to think of betrothal or of marriage; because you have now other and more serious duties to perform than to worship and adore a young wife. You need not say that the marriage is postponed indefinitely, when the delay will not be more than a year, at the longest. Show yourself worthy of Wanda; earn the hand of your bride; opportunity will not be wanting. But, Leo, I have something to say to you which must not longer be deferred; your uncle is displeased with you."
"Has he been complaining of me?" the young man asked, morosely.
"Unfortunately, he has been obliged to do so. Need I remind you that you owe deference and obedience to your uncle under all circumstances? And yet you have placed yourself at the head of several young men of your own age, and openly oppose his political plans and wishes."
"We are no longer children who must submit to be led as if we had no will of our own," replied Leo, defiantly. "Even though we are young, we have a right to our own opinions, and we cannot much longer endure this everlasting hesitation and delay."
"Do you suppose that my brother will allow your youthful, fiery ardor to lead him and his cause on to certain ruin? He finds it very difficult to reconcile and restrain the opposing elements, and it cuts him to the heart to see his own nephew setting an example of disobedience?"
"I have opposed him in words only, never in deeds. I honor and love Count Morynski as your brother and as Wanda's father, but I must be allowed some independence of thought and action. You have often enough told me that my name and ancestry entitle me to a leading position, and yet my uncle requires me to be content with a subordinate one."
"He does not dare intrust momentous interests to a fiery head of twenty-two years; you entirely misunderstand your uncle. An heir has been denied him, and although Wanda is his idol, the hopes that can be realized only through a son rest solely upon you, who are allied to him in blood, and will soon be called his son. Although he considers it necessary to restrain you for the present, you are his main dependence in the future; he looks to you to carry out the plans his years and failing health will not permit him to realize. I have his word that when the decisive moment comes, Prince Leo Zulieski will assume the position which is his due. We both hope that you may prove yourself worthy."
"Can you doubt it?" asked Leo, with glowing cheeks and flashing eyes.
The mother laid her hand soothingly upon his arm. "We do not doubt your courage, but we question your discretion. You have your father's temperament; in his fiery zeal and ardor he had little thought for consequences, and his yielding to generous but misguided impulses brought untold sorrow upon both him and me. But you are also my son, Leo, and I think you must have inherited some traits from your mother. I have told my brother that I would answer to him for your loyalty and obedience; it is for you to redeem the pledge."