“My poor girl, I see how hard it is for you, and I will do what I can. But I am afraid your brother is determined. Now go, and—and Linton had better help you to pack, in case——”
Zoe felt herself perfectly inhuman as Danaë turned great eyes of reproach upon her, but she durst make no promises. When her husband came in, she turned to him eagerly.
“Graham, you won’t mind if I try to persuade Prince Romanos to leave that poor girl with us? It is a miserable prospect for her to be sent back to Strio.”
“I shan’t object, but I doubt if you’ll get him to do it. And what have you in view for her exactly? Armitage doesn’t seem to come up to the scratch.”
“No, how could he? It must be a dreadful shock to find that a girl you have admired so much is practically a murderess. But I wish he would! It would be all right then. He could go away for a year’s cruise, and I would take her thoroughly in hand. He wouldn’t know her when he came back, and it would be so splendid introducing them!”
“But you don’t think he might prefer to do the training and watch the transformation for himself?”
“Of course he might, but it’s the dramatic effect I am thinking of. But I am afraid he has received too great a shock to want to have anything to do with her. And the Christodoridi are not a family that one would exactly choose to be connected with.”
“That depends on your moral character. If you prefer a family that’s bound to come up on top every time, you couldn’t do better. Witness Romanos retiring triumphant from here with his attendant Professor!”
“Oh, you went on with your business, then. What has he got?”
“Freedom from pressure for the moment, and the prospect of establishing his dynasty permanently, which is what he cares about. His railway muddle he conveniently shoves off on our shoulders. Maurice consents to finance the proposed line between here and Therma, as the only way of keeping the port free, and retains the right of constructing a future extension from here through Illyria to the Adriatic, which may become very important. But Pannonia must be given the chance of continuing her line through the Debatable Land as far as this place, and we must square Scythia by letting her build one from Przlepka to Karajevo in Thracia.”