Oh, how the words took hold of me this morning, as I saw them written on the walls."
His face became almost beautiful as he looked at the Queen, he spoke as one inspired, and all his heart went out with the solemn words of the code of honour. He knelt at the Queen's feet, he took the Queen's hands in his, and looking up into her wondering eyes he repeated—
'To love one maiden only, cleave to her
And worship her with years of noble deeds
Until I win her.'
"Oh, Margaret, Margaret of England, the God I worship gave me etheric power. I thought I was omnipotent, but I made mistakes, terrible blunders, thinking I could do all the work in a week. I was in such a hurry, full of a boy's pride of service, and look at the horrors I have brought upon the world with my rash haste. What is etheric power compared with the power in a woman's eyes? I don't know how it is, but I see everything so clearly now, and all my power is nothing—nothing whatever in the eyes of the Queen. I suppose I must be in love. Am I in love?"
"You mustn't," gasped the Queen, "it's not allowed. The Queen is not allowed to be a woman."
He laughed, kissing her hands as he spoke. "Not if I conquer the world and lay it at the feet of the Queen?"
"I don't know," Margaret smiled sadly. "I must ask my governess, and she will say, there are no precedents in the book of etiquette. We must be good and serve England."
"England!" he cried, gazing into the Queen's eyes. "I love you, England. Isn't that allowed?"
"Not if you put it that way, Mr. Brand. England is not a woman, but a country."
"Bounded on the east by a man's love, and on the west by a man's hope, and on the north by a man's fears, and on the south by a man's faith."