tepped toward her
quickly.

"No, I haven't," she answered, throwing back her head, like a spoiled
child. "On the contrary, I will be your messenger, your advocate, and
will plead your cause, and will win your case, and the king shall say
'yes,' and you shall have your princess whene'er you list. All this I
promise faithfully to do and perform. And now, if you want to leave me
so sullenly, go!"

But the free baron dropped awkwardly to his knee, took her little hand
in his massive one and raised it to his lips. "Madam, you overwhelm
me," he murmured.

"That is all very well," she commented, reflectively, "but what about
the princess? What will she say when--"

"It shall be my task to persuade her. I am sure she will consent,"
returned the suitor.

"Oh, you're sure of that?" observed the lady. "You have some faith in
your own powers of persuasion--in certain quarters!"

"Not in my powers, Madam, but in the princess' amiability."

"Perhaps you have spoken to her already?" asked the countess.

"No, Madam; without your assistance, of what use would be her
willingness?"

"What a responsibility you place on my weak shoulders!" cried the
other. "However, I will not shift the burden. I will go to his
Majesty at once. And do you"--gaily--"go to the princess."

"At your command!" he replied, and took his departure.

Without the inclosure of the chateau gardens, the free baron began to
review the events of the morning with complacency and satisfaction,
but, as he took up the threads of his case and examined them more
narrowly, his peace of mind was darkened with the shadow of a new
disquietude. What if Francis, less easily cozened than the countess,
should find his suspicions aroused? What if the princess, who had
immediately dismissed the fool's denouncement of the free baron as an
ebullition of blind jealousy--after informing her betrothed of the mad
accusation--should see in his request equivocal circumstances? Or, was
the countess--like many of her sisters--given to second thoughts, and
would this after-reverie dampen the ardor of her impetuous promise?

"But," thought the king's guest, banishing these assailing doubts,
"there never yet was victory assured before the battle had been fought,
and, with renewed precautions, defeat is most unlikely."

By the time he had reached this conclusion he had arrived at the
princess' door.

CHAPTER XV

A NEW DISCOVERY

The dim rays of a candle glimmer