“The Princess? Is she ill?” demanded Lorry.
“Not ill, but mad, I fear,” answered she, giving a hand to each. “Mr. Lorry, she bids me say to you that she cannot see you. She appreciates the importance of your mission and thanks you for the interest you have taken.
“Also, she authorizes me to assure you that nothing can be done at present regarding the business on which you come.”
“She refuses to see us,” said he, slowly, his face whiter than ever.
“Nay; she begs that you will excuses her. Her Highness is sorely worn and distressed today, and I fear cannot endure all that is happening. She is apparently calm and composed, but I, who know her so well, can see the strain beneath.”
“Surely she must see the urgency of quick action in this matter of ours,” cried Anguish half angrily. “We are not dogs to be kicked out of the castle. We have a right to be treated fairly--”
“We cannot censure the Princess, Harry,” said Lorry, calmly. “We have come because we would befriend her, and she sees fit to reject our good offices. There is but one thing left for us to do--depart as we came.”
“But I don't like it a little bit,” growled the other.
“If you only knew, Mr. Anguish, you would not be so harsh and unjust,” remonstrated the lady, warmly. Turning to Lorry she said: “She asked me to hand you this and to bid you retain it as a token of her undying esteem.”
She handed him a small, exquisite miniature of the Princess, framed in gold inlaid with rubies. He took it dumbly in his fingers, but dared not look at the portrait it contained. With what might have seemed disrespect he dropped the treasure into his coat pocket.
“Tell her I shall always retain it as a token' of her--esteem,” he said. “And now may I ask whether she handed my note to her uncle, the Count?”
The Countess blushed in a most unaccountable manner.
“Not while I was with her,” she said, recovering the presence of mind she apparently had lost.
“She destroyed it, I presume,” said he, laughing harshly.
“I saw her place it in her bosom, sir, and with the right hand,” cried the Countess, as if betraying a state secret.
“In her--you are telling me the truth?” cried he, his face lighting up.
“Now, see here, Lorry, don't begin to question the Countess's word. I won't stand for that,” interposed Anguish, good-humoredly.