"Yes, yes, and I command you to tell me what they contained. It was the most daring thing I—"
"You highness, I cannot tell you what passed between us. It would be treacherous," he said firmly. Beverly gasped in sheer amazement.
"Treacherous? Good heaven, sir, to whom do you owe allegiance—to me or to Ravone and that band of tramps?" she cried, with eyes afire.
"To both, your highness," he answered so fairly that she was for the moment abashed. "I am loyal to you—loyal to the heart's core, and yet I am loyal to that unhappy band of tramps, as you choose to call them. They are my friends. You are only my sovereign."
"And you won't tell me what passed between you?" she said, angered by this epigrammatic remark.
"I cannot and be true to myself."
"Oh? you are a glorious soldier," she exclaimed, with fierce sarcasm in her voice. "You speak of being true! I surprise you in the very act of—"
"Stay, your highness!" he said coldly. "You are about to call me a spy and a traitor. Spare me, I implore you, that humiliation. I have sworn to serve you faithfully and loyally. I have not deceived you, and I shall not. Paul Baldos has wronged no man, no woman. What passed between Ravone and myself concerns us only. It had nothing to do with the affairs of Graustark."
"Of course you would say that. You wouldn't be fool enough to tell the truth," cried she hotly. "I am the fool! I have trusted you and if anything goes wrong I alone am to blame for exposing poor Graustark to danger. Oh, why didn't I cry out this afternoon?"
"I knew you would not," he said, with cool unconcern.