"You won't take offence?"
"Not a bit."
"And won't be annoyed even if it smacks of lèse-majesté?"
"Rot and nonsense. Go on."
Franz drove his brute nearer to the War Lord's side.
"They do say," he whispered, "that you sort of kidnapped Bertha against her mother's will, and are now conducting the business solely with an eye to dividends."
"They think me Leopold II.," quizzed the War Lord, alluding to the business methods of the late King of the Belgians. "Excellent; a lie to be encouraged! But as a matter of fact—entre nous, of course; strictly entre nous—I acted upon the principle of jus primae noctis. In olden times, when the vassal died, the liege lord assumed charge of the property for the dead man's eldest son, presumably his lordship's, which action forestalled wastage of the estate. As liege lord of Prussia I deemed it my duty to prevent the disintegration of the Fatherland's war machinery, and had myself appointed Bertha's guardian, with full power to act. Of course, the Baroness does not like that; neither did the vassal's widow cherish the idea of becoming a chattel."
"And is she easily managed?" asked Franz, as he dealt the fractious Umberto a vicious blow between the ears.
"Not that fashion," replied the War Lord, when he had caught up with his guest; "flattery is the thing with girls. That and a certain amount of unctuousness, backed by divine right, I found quite an irresistible combination."
"You mean to say that you flatter where you can command?" asked Franz.