'We have always been loyal, sire.'
The Duke shook his head sadly.
'But the world changes—what has been is not. And the first reason now-a-days why a thing should no longer be, is the fact that once it was!'
Valerie was almost as tall as the Duke himself, and she looked level into his weary eyes.
'Have we changed with the world, sire?'
'Not—yet,' replied the Duke bitterly; then, struck, as it seemed, by the intrinsic spirit of the young imperial face gazing into his own, he added, 'Though you tempt a man to believe in you, Mademoiselle!'
'I say this before your Highness and these gentlemen of your Guard,' Valerie said, her eyes flashing. 'May the Selpdorf, who ceases to be true to your Highness and to Maäsau, die!'
In after time events brought back the vehement words to the minds of the three who heard them.
'And I say, "Amen!"' The Duke took her hand and added, 'Which proves, Valerie, that you have conquered your old friend, Gustave of Maäsau. Come, Captain Rallywood, half-an-hour's play, and then to bed.'
Valerie looked up at Unziar as she walked beside him.