“My heart tells me so, Princess. Janni? his very name! The day of his adoption, that on which I lost him. The anxiety of my faithful Petros to recover him—by the bye, the rascal has been leading me a pretty dance since. All-Holy Mother of God! he must have known where the child was the whole time! The nurse-girl is his niece; they must have made up the plot together.”
“Surely it would be better to have the girl here at once, and let her bring the child for you to see?” said Maurice, and Wylie called to one of the servants outside and gave him the order. Prince Romanos looked slightly disconcerted.
“I could wish to have embraced my recovered treasure first in private,” he said to Zoe, with the faintest hint of reproach in his tone.
“And to have given instructions to the nurse in private also?” inquired the Cavaliere sarcastically.
Meanwhile, the receipt of Wylie’s order caused commotion in the nursery. Danaë declared that she would not go down; she was tired, she was ill, she was terrified; Linton must take Janni. They wrangled over the whole process of getting him into his best frock, and were still fixed in their respective determinations when Parisi himself puffed upstairs to inquire what was the reason of this delay? Was the Lady Kalliopé waiting for the Lord Glafko to come and fetch her, or did she insist upon the escort of the gracious Prince himself? Danaë’s elevation of the previous night had not met with approval among the servants, and she realised in time that they would like nothing better than to drag her by force, struggling and shrieking, into the presence of Princess Theophanis and her guests. Therefore she merely tossed her head in answer to Parisi’s ponderous raillery, and seizing Janni, marched defiantly down the stairs and across the courtyard.
“Why, Eurynomé!” said Prince Romanos stiffly.
“I am she, lord,” she responded. “You wished to see the little lord?”
The Prince’s ill-humour melted as he held out his arms, and the watching grandfather noted jealously that the child went to him at once, and nestled confidingly against his shoulder. Danaë watched them with pride.
“What made you take the little lord away, Eurynomé?” demanded the Prince abruptly.
“You told me to, lord,” was the answer, which produced a sensation. Was the Cavaliere justified in insinuating that Prince Romanos had suborned Petros and the nurse to remove the child and keep him out of sight?