“Ah, let there be no ‘but,’ my love, my sweet Princess.”
“You are asking me to speak a word which both of us know well I have no right to utter.”
“From your head, perhaps; but from your heart?” he pleaded.
She still gently shook her head. “No, no, my dear friend. You must be content with the signs I have already given you.”
“Princess, ah, dear love, I beseech you.”
“No, no.”
“Give me at least the sign again.”
“The sign?”
“A kiss.”
The hot breath of the word touched her cheek, which seemed to glow and catch fire from its ardency. “No, no!” she cried desperately. “You are unkind; I—I was mad; I knew not what I did. You must forget——”