“Gato ought to be here with Lentala by this time,” he said.
He walked slowly to the private audience-room, looked in, and strolled back. Near me he stopped short, intently listening.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“No, Sire.”
“It sounded like the roar of an infuriated animal.”
His strolling began again, but with an increasing uneasiness.
“I don’t understand it,” he said. At intervals he stopped and listened. Finally he came back.
“I sent for her,” he explained, “to announce that she was heir-apparent to the throne, and vested with present authority to take any measures in this crisis that would seem proper in her discretion.”
I did not know before that my heart could be so touched by such a man.
His impatience at last slipped control. “We will go and see what detains them,” he said.