“You take me at a disadvantage,” he said, with dignity.
Viktoria smiled faintly.
“Ah no, sire—you have all the advantages!”
Karl suddenly smiled also; it changed his face, not agreeably.
“You think I have all I want?” he asked.
“I think that you could have.”
“That rests with you, Baroness,” he replied; now that he was sober it was noticeable that his demeanor was cold and his manners of a freezing haughtiness; only towards this woman his behavior was softened; he was being as gracious as he knew how; his large serene eyes gleamed as they rested on her loveliness; he approved her openly and with a lack of all subterfuge that had something large-natured in it; indeed, it was impossible to associate him with anything small of any kind.
They stood facing each other, and for all that she was tall she was hardly to his shoulder; he stared at her, and behind all his arrogance was a certain shyness.
“Sir,” she said, “it is a pity that you should depend on a woman for anything.”
That seemed to strike a responsive chord in his nature; he drew up his magnificent figure and a look of intense pride darkened his face.