“I was alone again. I wished to be alone to collect my thoughts. It had never occurred to me that Saviola would desert me—never!
“He had ceased to be my king, my hero, my idol. He had revealed himself to be a gambler, a sharper, an adventurer. I had long ceased to love, trust, or respect him. Still, I knew that he was fond of me, in his way, and so I never imagined that he could forsake me. And, now that the possibility was presented to me, it filled me with more wonder than sorrow or mortification.
“I was not nearly so much troubled by the possible desertion of Saviola as I had been by the long silence and fancied implacability of my father. I was sorry for Saviola only because, though I had ceased to love, or trust, or respect the man, I had begun to compassionate him. He seemed so much weaker than I was.
“With this feeling of pity and regret was mingled one of intense relief. I had so little to lose in losing the man whose life was a constant source of shame and fear to me! But, whatever he may have been, his rank was unquestionable. I had been lawfully married to him, and I was the Princess Saviola. And my son was Prince Rolando Saviola. No one could deprive us of these old and honorable, though now empty, titles.
“I soon reconciled myself to my desertion, even if I did not rejoice in my deliverance. I made up my mind to take my child and go directly to Weirdwaste, my own inheritance from my mother, and there await my father’s return to England; then confess the whole truth to him and throw myself upon his love and his protection.
“But, ah, Heaven! I did not yet know the worst!”
CHAPTER XXXI
PRETENDED CONSOLATION
“In the evening Anglesea called on me again.
“His manner was full of the most respectful sympathy. He was my brother’s dearest friend. He had acted in my father’s and my brother’s absence as my own best friend; and, since he could not prevent my romantic escapade, he had attended me in the character of a guardian, to see that no fatal mistake was made through Saviola’s ignorance of national laws and customs. Therefore, I had every reason to trust in him and confide in him as in an elder brother.
“I was alone, in the little drawing room, when he entered. I received him as warmly, though more gravely, than when he had called at noon.