"You are a madman!" cried Lady Agnes. "Stay here? They would kill you in a jiffy. Absurd!"
"Not after they've had another good long look at my warships. Lady Deppingham," he replied, with a most reassuring smile.
"Good Lord, Chase, you're not clinging to that corpse-candle straw, are you?" cried his lordship, beginning to pace the floor. "Don't be a fool! We can't leave you here to the mercy of these brutes. What's more, we won't!"
"My dear fellow," said Chase ruefully, "we are talking as though the ship had already dropped anchor out there. The chances are that we will have ample time to discuss the ethics of my rather anomalous position before we say good-bye to each other. I think I'll take a stroll along the wall before turning in."
He arose and leisurely started to go indoors. The Princess called to him, and he paused.
"Wait," she said, coming up to him. They walked down the hallway together. "I will run upstairs and unlock the treasure chest. I do not trust even my maid. You shall have two to-night—no more."
"You've really saved them for me?" he queried, a note of eagerness in his voice. "All these days?"
"I have been your miser," she said lightly, and then ran lightly up the stairs.
He looked after her until she disappeared at the top with a quick, shy glance over her shoulder. Then he permitted his spirits to drop suddenly from the altitude to which he had driven them. An expression of utter dejection came into his face; a haggard look replaced the buoyant smile.
"God, how I love her—how I love her!" he groaned, half aloud.