a Royal Duke of Valeria as your husband, and he has
denied the claim. It is a most serious matter. It was done in the
presence of many witnesses, and your words, or some of them, were,
doubtless, overheard by those at nearby tables. The Capital will be
full of the affair; and the results may be most unfortunate for you,
and for His Highness. I am the American Ambassador; here is the
Ambassador of His Majesty of England; and, yonder, is His Royal
Highness the Grand Duke Lotzen, Heir Presumptive to the Valerian
Throne----"

"Your speech is long, sir," she said; "please come to the question."

Courtney bowed. "I was but trying to explain why I ventured to meddle
in Madame's business," he said.

She smiled wearily. "Your pardon, Monsieur; pray proceed."

"The question I want to ask is this," said Courtney: "Will you not tell
us when and where you became the wife of Armand Dalberg?"

"Yes, Monsieur, and gladly--and I thank you for the thought. I was
married to Armand Dalberg--then a Major in the American Army--on the
twenty-first day of last December in the City of New York."

(That was only two months before I had sailed for Valeria; and I had
been in New York that very day.)

"And by whom, pray?" I exclaimed.

"By the official you provided," was the curt reply. Then, to Courtney,
she added: "I don't recall his name but my certificate shows it, I
suppose."

"And you have the certificate with you?" he asked.

"It is somewhere among my luggage. If you care to see it I shall try
to find it to-morrow."

"Thank you, Madame," Courtney answered.

Then Lotzen took a hand.

"Will Madame permit me, also, to ask her a question?" he said.

"Certainly, Your Highness," she answered, and would have curtsied had
he not waved her up.

"Was the marriage secret?" he asked.

The answer was instant: "It was private but not secret."

"Then, why is it that Major Dalberg's record in the War office in
Washington makes no mention of this marriage? I happen to know it does
not."

"I do not know," she answered, rather tartly. "It was not, I assume,
my duty to report it."

"And, further, Madame," Lotzen continued. "If Major Dalberg were lucky
enough to marry you, why, in Heaven's name, should he deny you within a
few short months?"

"I might guess one of the reasons," she answered languidly--and let her
eyes rest upon the Princess.

And Dehra laughed in her face.

Lotzen shrugged his shoulders and was silent.