"Not till I want her."
"What are your plans?" she asked presently.
"To get the yacht," he answered, "bring the Fleet to terms, recapture Lyonesse, collect my squadron, find my Ministers of State, and weld them into a strong Cabinet. Then I hope to hang Ulster, seize the departments, set up the Queen's provisional Government, call a General Election, and declare war with the Allies. Meanwhile the Queen must keep our enemies amused."
"But if you die in the Queen's service?"
He laughed. "They'll throw my body into a ditch and cry, 'So perish all the Queen's enemies!'"
Turning to the table she wrote upon a slip of paper—
"The bearer is my Messenger.
"Margaret R.I."
"Kneel," she said, gravely, and he bent his knee to the ground. "This is a token of our love and trust."
He glanced at the paper. "I can't take that, dear Queen. It might compromise you; it's too dangerous." He would have risen.
"No, don't get up yet."