“I am but fatigued,” she replied, forcing a smile.
“Ah, of course you are, my dear. You must place yourself in the care of my physicians immediately upon our arrival at the palace.”
Nevertheless, he hazarded a shrewd guess as to the real cause of her lassitude.
As for Zola, her heart was heavy. Did Robert care more for precious metals and gems than for her? She would gladly have gone to the utmost ends of the universe with him unhesitatingly, with implicit trusting, yet he seemed already to have forgotten his recent avowal of love. He had even avoided her eye guiltily.
23
Ahead, Professor Palmer was listening sadly to Robert’s tale of Taggert’s death.
“Poor lad. We must carry his story back to his paper and the world. He forfeited his life for it. It is little enough.”
“Little enough,” Robert agreed. He thought of the sad message he would bear to the girl who would be waiting for Taggert.
They rode on in silence.
At Robert’s suggestion upon their arrival at the palace, Hakon promptly issued orders for the Sphere to be sought out and brought back. A huge conveyance and two-score men were dispatched for this purpose.