"The Pass is open," he replied serenely. "And," turning to Thusis, "so is the road to France. And we should travel it this night unless we wish to see our papers taken from us and our persons subjected to arrest by these somewhat singular Swiss gendarmes."
"What did Monsieur Venizelos say?" insisted Thusis, tears of disappointment and vexation shining in her gray eyes.
"The letter is here,"—Raoul touched his breast pocket—"at the disposal of her grace the Duchess of Naxos——"
"Tell me!" cried Thusis, angrily, "and let my 'grace' go to the devil!"
"Monsieur Venizelos warns us of Tino's forgery. We are not to touch these kings: we are not to proclaim Naxos an Italian Duchy and you its hereditary ruler."
There was a painful silence.
Very slowly Thusis turned and looked at me. And I remembered then what I had said to her about the purity and unselfishness of justifiable revolutions.
And now I realized that part of this revolution in Naxos was the restoration of an ancient Duchy and of a family as ancient, embodied in this young girl before me.
At that moment Tino came lurching into the room followed by the queen, and presently by the majority of the huns in the house-party.
"Somebody has been through my luggage!" he barked. "Now I'm damned if I put up with that——"