"Oh, must you? Can't you wait till we go—this afternoon?"
"No; I must be the first to carry this dreadful news to my people."
"You are right, of course; but I'll miss you so, and you need me. Say you need me!"
"Need you! Of course I do; but you cannot stay with me and I cannot go with you."
"I know, I know!" she sighed, resignedly. "But it hurts all the same."
"This tumult will die out soon," he went on, in the effort to comfort her, "and then I can come on to Washington for a visit. I warn you I've lost all my scruples; seventeen hundred million dollars are as straws in my path, now that I know you really care for me."
"I don't feel rich now; I feel very poor. You must come to Washington soon."
"I warn you that when I come I will ask hard things of you!" He rose and his face darkened. "But my duty calls!"
She came to him and yielded herself to his embrace. "My queenly, beautiful girl! It is sweet to have you here in my arms; but I must say good-bye—good-bye."
In spite of his words he held her till she, with an instinctive movement, pushed from his arms. "Go—go quick!" she exclaimed, in a low, imperative voice.