“Oh, that we shall all live together at the Palace?” said Danaë, with reviving cheerfulness. “Ah, lady mine, then I shall be able to be with you always!”
“In that case, I fear Lady Zoe would have to put up with a good deal of me,” said Armitage. “Shall we say sometimes instead of always?”
* * * * * * * *
That evening, in response to the shouts of the people who filled the square, Prince and Princess Theophanis appeared upon the balcony over the principal entrance to the Palace, and exchanged greetings with their new subjects. As Maurice handed his wife back into the room after one of these appearances he pressed her hand.
“Happy at last, Eirene? I hope so, dear.”
“Not quite,” she said quickly. “Maurice, why did you refuse to betroth Isidora to Janni as the Greeks wished? It was such a natural and proper thing to do.”
“What! to bind those two babies irretrievably to one another?”
“These people do it constantly, to end a feud. And there would be no hardship in it. I should bring up Isidora to regard the boy as her destined bridegroom, and she would never think of anyone else.”
“But suppose she did? You were brought up to regard a Scythian Grand Duke as your destined bridegroom, but that didn’t prevent you from thinking of me. Why should your daughter be different? Or suppose Janni preferred to marry some one else? No, we won’t risk making the children unhappy.”
“They are princes. It is the drawback of their position.”