He was unsteady. She was quick to perceive it.
“Sit down here by me, Carl,” she said, “they—they will come for us.” He obeyed her. She noticed that his left arm hung like an empty sleeve.
“You were very brave, Carl,” she said.
The color returned to his cheeks. He looked down at her with an expression that was quite boyish in its frank delight.
“Any man would be brave for you,” he said simply.
She wondered at this. It gave her a new sense of power and yet she did not smile as she had when she learned that Barnes had told her things he had not intended to tell her. Nor did the power seem so great, though both incidents opened her eyes to a new personality within her. And both gave her sense of responsibility which, while nursing the pride which all responsibility gives, brought its burden too. In mounting the throne which was her birthright, she was forced to assume the duties of a ruler. A queen must take a sterner oath of allegiance than the humblest of her subjects.
From the direction of the house, she heard the clattering hoof beats of a racing horse.
“He is coming,” she said.
“Dr. Merriweather?”
“No,” she answered, “I don’t think it’s Dr. Merriweather.”