His eyes flashed in the sunshine;—a rose shook its pink petals on the ground at his feet. In one of the many pleasure-boats skimming across the sea, a man was singing; and the words he sang floated distinctly along on the landward wind.
“Let me be thine, O love,
But for an hour! I yield my heart and soul
Into thy power,—Let me be thine, O Love of mine,
But for an hour!”
The King listened, and a faint shadow darkened the proud light on his face.
“‘But for an hour!’” he said half aloud—“Yes,—it would be enough! No woman’s love lasts longer!”
CHAPTER III. — A NATION OR A CHURCH?
An approaching step echoing on the marble terrace warned him that he was no longer alone. He reseated himself at his writing-table, and feigned to be deeply engrossed in perusing various documents, but a ready smile greeted the intruder as soon as he perceived who it was,—one Sir Roger de Launay, his favourite equerry and intimate personal friend.
“Time’s up, is it, Roger?” he queried lightly,—then as the equerry bowed in respectful silence—“And yet I have scarcely glanced at these papers! All the same, I have not been idle—I have been thinking.”
Sir Roger de Launay, a tall handsome man, with an indefinable air of mingled good-nature and lassitude about him which suggested the possibility of his politely urging even Death itself not to be so much of a bore about its business, smiled doubtfully. “Is it a wise procedure, Sir?” he enquired—“Conducive to comfort I mean?”