"Pouf!" she said. "I had begun to hope that you had come to see me!"
"I had not John's permission," he objected.
"Have you Philadelphus' permission to see her?"
He looked his perplexity.
"What," she exclaimed, "has she not laid her claim before you yet?"
The Maccabee shook his head.
"Know, then, that this pretty nameless creature claims to be the wife of this same Philadelphus."
He sat up in his earnestness.
"What!" he cried.
"Even so! Insists upon it in the face of the lady princess' proofs and Philadelphus' denial!"