She bought him—then he did her bidding.
"I was silly enough to hope it was only I that you wanted to see," he said.
"My note gave no ground for such hopes, Your Highness," she said. "I told you exactly what I wanted—to discuss a matter of immediate importance."
"Oh, yes, I know—but then I was still thinking of the Masque."
She looked at him naïvely. "Surely, Duke, you are old enough to know that, of all follies, a Masque is chiefest and dies with the break of day."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I am learning it, now, at any rate."
"And, don't forget, it was you who ended the pleasant promenade, to pick a quarrel with the—Masque in Black."
"But with full purpose to resume it in a moment."
"After you had killed him? Very likely! Your sole thought would have been to get away."
"And to take you with me," he added.