She knew what he meant; she knew that
something was expected of her. A word from her and he would understand
that he had not tasted of the unattainable. In one brief moment she saw
that she had deliberately led him on, that she had encouraged him, that
she actually had proffered him the cup from which he had begun to sip
the bitterness. Pride and love were waging a conflict in this hapless
southern girl's heart. But she was silent. She could not say the word.
"I think I know what you mean, Baldos," said Yetive, seeing that Beverly
would not intervene. "We are sorry. No one trusts to your honor more
than I do. My husband believes in you. I will confess that you are to be
arrested as a spy to-morrow. To-night you are to serve as a guard in the
castle. This should prove to you that I have unbounded faith in you.
Moreover, I believe in you to the extent that I should not be afraid to
trust you if you were to go out into the world with every secret which
we possess. You came here under a peculiar stress of circumstances, not
wholly of your own volition. Believe me, I am your friend."
"I shall revere your highness forever for those words," said he
simply. His eyes went hungrily to Beverly's averted face, and then
assumed a careless gleam which indicated that he had resigned himself to
the inevitable.
"I am constrained to ask you one question, sir," went on the
princess.
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