"Had those agents penetrated our identity?"
"They seemed to have no notion of it. But they described you both minutely."
Clelia seemed to come out of her trance. She turned to Thusis and said in a naïve, bewildered way:
"It's rather extraordinary, Thusis, that nobody seems to have found out who we really are.... It's almost as though we are not of as much importance as we have been brought up to suppose."
Thusis blushed hotly: "Because," she said, "nobody has discovered our incognito, is no reason for us to underrate our positions in Europe."
"Still—it is extraordinary that nobody recognizes us. And we use our own names, too. I can't account for it," she added honestly, "unless we are of much less importance than we have been accustomed to consider ourselves——"
Her voice was lost in a fearful scream from the house.
"Good Heavens!" said I, "what has happened?"
At that moment the door flew open and King Ferdinand waddled out in his wrapper and slippers.
"Help!" he shouted, "help! Is there a physician in the Alps?"