"I hope you have destroyed that horrid black patch," she said.
"It has gone to keep company with other devoted but deserted friends," he said, a tinge of bitterness in his voice.
"The uniform is vastly becoming," she went on, realizing helplessly that she was providing intense amusement for the unseen auditors.
"It shames the rags in which you found me."
"I shall never forget them, Baldos," she said, with a strange earnestness in her voice.
"May I presume to inquire after the health of your good Aunt Fanny and—although I did not see him—your Uncle Sam?" he asked, with a face as straight and sincere as that of a judge. Beverly swallowed suddenly and checked a laugh with some difficulty.
"Aunt Fanny is never ill. Some day I shall tell you more of Uncle Sam. It will interest you."
"Another question, if it please your highness. Do you expect to return to America soon?"
This was the unexpected, but she met it with admirable composure.
"It depends upon the time when Prince Dantan resumes the throne in Dawsbergen," she said.