affectionate solicitude what a lucky thing it is you never married otherwise you would now be going to tell your wife all about the king s plans then she sweet creature would go to confession � and her would tell a bishop � and a bishop would tell a cardinal � and a cardinal would tell a confidential � and the confidential would tell the supreme � and so all the world would be ringing with the news started by one little pretty tongue of a woman a faint flush coloured de s cheek but he laughed true i am glad i have never married i am still glad � of circumstances � he paused � then went q � which have so chanced to me that i shall never marry he paused again � then added � i must be l one von i have to meet prince at the with a message from his majesty surely said the professor opening his eyes very wide th prince is not to be included in our adventure by no means replied de � but the king j ot pleased with his son s frequent from and desires to speak with him on the matter yon looked grave there will be some little trouble there he said with half sigh � who knows perhaps some trouble heaven forbid ejaculated sir � we power in times of peace we want no with either the king or the people till to morrow night then till to morrow night i responded von whereupon sir with a brief word of farewell strode away left to himself the professor still stood at his window watching the approach of the prince s which came towards the shore with such swift and stately motion through the of the over the sparkling water unfortunate he muttered � what a secret he has me with and yet why do i call him unfortunate there should be nothing to regret � and yet � well the mischief was done before poor von was consulted and if poor were god and the devil rolled into one strange eternal monster he could not have prevented it what is done can never be undone chapter v if i loved you a singular pomp is sometimes associated with the announcement that my lord or nobody has had the honour of dining with their the king and queen read the thrilling line with awe and envy � and of them are foolish enough to wish that they also were lords or nobody as a matter of sad and sober fact however a dinner with royal personages is an extremely dull affair do not speak unless you are spoken to is a rule which however excellent and necessary in court is apt to utterly conversation and render the brightest spirits dull and the silent and solemn movements of the court � the painful of those who are not spoken to the eager yet smiles of those who are spoken to � the melancholy efforts at gaiety � the dread of on subjects � these things tend to make all but the independent and minds shrink from such ordeal as the honour of dining with kings it must however be that the kings themselves are fully aware of the of their dinner parties and would the if they could but etiquette the particular monarch whose are the of this plain history would have f better than to be allowed to dine in y and peace without his conversation being noted and without having a at hand to watch every morsel food go into his mouth he would have liked to eat talk freely and conduct himself generally with the of a private gentleman all this being denied to him he hated the dinner hour s as he hated receiving illuminated addresses i power and the freedom of cities yet all things costly and beautiful were combined to make his royal table a picture which would have pleased the eyes and taste of a de on the evening of the day on which he had determined as he had said to himself to begin to reign it looked more than usually attractive some trifling chance had made the more � some amiable humour of the providence which rules daily events had ordained that two or three of the prettiest court ladies should be present � prince and his two brothers and were at table � and though conversation was slow and scant the of the scene was not destroyed by silence the apartment which was used as a private dining room when their had no guests save the members of their own household was in itself a of art and architecture � it had been designed and painted from floor to ceiling by one of the most famous of the dead and gone masters and its broad windows opened out on a white marble the ocean where of flowers and hung in natural and of foliage and blossom mingling their sweet with the fresh scent of the sea amid all the glow and delicacy of colour the crowning perfection of the perfect was the queen in her middle age than most women in their an exquisite figure of and dignity in such hues and adorned with such jewels as best suited her beauty and attended by ladies of whose more youthful charms she was never envious having indeed no cause envy she was a living defiance to the of time and her royal husband s dinner table with the same in different ease as she his throne in the dazzling light of her physical he at her with mingled impatience and sadness almost wished she would grow older in appearance with years and lose that perfect skin white as � that glittering but cold of eye for ence had taught him the of beauty by tenderness and fair faces had no longer the first attraction for him his eldest son 