"I wanted to——" She paused.
"To hear me speak," he added, finishing her sentence for her.
"Yes; to see you use your power."
"I am flattered by the interest you take in me."
"Oh, it was on purely political grounds."
There was the suspicion of a smile on her face. He looked at her quickly. What did she mean? Why should it be necessary to say so? Her mind had contemplated another reason, then.
"I hope you were not bored," he said.
"It is terrible to have power like that," she replied earnestly; and then after a pause, "Where are we going to?"
"I would have driven you to the palace," said Savrola, "but our ingenuous young friend on the box has made it necessary that we should keep up this farce for a little longer. It will be necessary to get rid of him. For the present you had best remain my niece."
She looked up at him with an amused smile, and then said seriously: "It was brilliant of you to have thought of it, and noble of you to have carried it out. I shall never forget it; you have done me a great service."