“How do you prove it, Sir?” queried the Prince. “Bigamy is the act of contracting a second marriage while the first partner is alive. It is punished severely in commoners;—why should Royalty escape?”
The King began to laugh. This boy was developing ‘discursive philosophies’ such as his own old tutor had abhorred.
“Upon my life, I do not know, Humphry!” he declared; “You must ask the departed shades of those who made themselves responsible for kingship in the first place. Personally, I do not come under the law. I have only married once myself!”
His son looked full at him;—and the intensity of that look affected and unsteadied his usual calm nerves. But he was not one to shirk an unpleasant suggestion.
“You would say, Humphry, if your filial respect permitted you, that my one marriage has been amplified in various other ways. Perfectly true! When women lie down and ask you to walk over them, you do it if you are a man and a king! When, on the contrary, women show you that they do not care whether you are royal or the reverse, and despise you more than admire you, you run after them for all you are worth! At least I do! I always have done so. And, to a certain extent, it has been amusing. But the limit is reached. I am growing old!” Here he took up the cigar he had thrown aside when his son had first startled him by the announcement of his marriage, and relighting it, began to smoke peaceably. “I am, as I say, growing old. I have never found what is called love. You have—or think you have! Enjoy your dream, Humphry—but—take my advice and go abroad! See whether travel does not work a change in you or,—in her!” He paused a moment, and while the Prince still regarded him fixedly, added; “Will you tell the Queen?”
“I will leave you to tell her, Sir, with your permission;” replied the Prince; “I cannot expect her sympathy.”
“Von Glauben, then, is the only person you have trusted with your confidence?”
“Von Glauben was no party to my marriage, Sir. I was married fully three months before I told him. He was greatly vexed and troubled,—but when he saw Gloria, he was glad.”
“Glad!” echoed the King; “For what reason, pray?”
“I am afraid, Sir,” said the young man with a smile, “his gladness was but a part of his science! He said it was better for a prince to wed a healthy and beautiful commoner, than the daughter of a hundred scrofulous kings!”