"But my sister thinks of going away after I am crowned," he said.
"Going away?" Nick returned. "Very good; the world is small; I can readily find her. I trust that you will speak well of me to her."
"But you haven't told me wherein lies her wonderful charm which seems to have captivated both you and Dale—Wharton, I think you said your friend's name was?"
"How about it, Dale?" cried Nick, "has she bound you to her chariot wheels, too?"
"To me she is the most wonderful woman in the world," I made answer, looking straight into her eyes. Solonika flushed a little and gave me a quick sign of camaraderie that made me very happy.
"A woman has come between David and Jonathan," said Nick.
"The woman has come," I replied, and for the first time I realized as I gazed in his face that Nick was not joking. I, who knew him, could read there plainly the intensity of his feeling, and I suppose he could read my heart as well. The spirit of contest was lit in our eyes. We looked at each other like two young animals meeting face to face in the spring-time. Yet there was a note of regret in Nick's voice when he slowly repeated:
"The woman has come."
"But, wherein is her charm? You have not told me," reiterated the Prince.
"Your Highness has never been in love, it is plain to see," said Nick, "else you would not ask such a question. Her particular charm is that she is she. A man goes through the world meeting many women. Although he may not know it, he carries an ideal within his heart. How his ideal is formed, who can tell? But it is there, nevertheless. Unconsciously, he measures all women by this ideal; one after another falls before it, until as time goes by he loses hope of ever finding her. But one day he meets the woman. He may not recognize her immediately, but after the meeting his thoughts follow her. They meet again and after her departure comes loneliness which is a part of him except when she is near. One cannot put it into words; it lies below, too deep for utterance. Why she is she I cannot tell. I only know the Princess Solonika affects me so."