"You followed me. Why?"
"To beg a word of your Grace's favour."
"The question you asked today?"
"Yes."
"Is it so urgent?" The Queen laughed a little, and Gilbert started in surprise.
"Your Grace wrote urgently," he said.
"Then you are zealous only to obey me? I like that. You shall be rewarded! But I have changed my mind. If the letter were to be written again, I would not write it."
"It was the letter of a friend. Would you take it back?"
Gilbert's face showed the coming disappointment. In his anxiety he pressed nearer to her, resting his hand on the doorpost. The Queen drew back and smiled.
"Was it so very friendly?" she asked. "I do not remember—but I did not mean it so."