It was marvelous what a change this sudden
realization wrought in the view ahead of him. The whole situation seemed
to be transformed into something more desirable than ever before. His
face cleared, his spirits leaped higher and higher with the buoyancy of
fresh relief, his confidence in himself crept back into existence. And
all because the fair deceiver, the slim girl with the brave gray eyes
who had drawn him into a net, was not a princess!
Something told him that she had not drawn him into his present position
with any desire to injure or with the slightest sense of malice. To her
it had been a merry jest, a pleasant comedy. Underneath all he saw the
goodness of her motive in taking him from the old life, and putting him
into his present position of trust. He had helped her, and she was ready
to help him to the limit of her power. His position in Edelweiss was
clearly enough defined. The more he thought of it, the more justifiable
it seemed as viewed from her point of observation. How long she hoped to
keep him in the dark he could not tell. The outcome would be
entertaining; her efforts to deceive. If she kept them up, would be
amusing. Altogether, he was ready, with the leisure and joy of youth, to
await developments and to enjoy the comedy from a point of view which
she could not at once suspect.
His subtle efforts to draw Haddan into a discussion of the princess and
her household resulted unsatisfactorily.
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