he may find a way out of the
difficulty."

They went to sleep that night, Anguish at once, Lorry not for hours,
harboring a determination to learn more about the condition of affairs
touching the people of Graustark and the heart of their Princess.

XIII. UNDER MOON AND MONASTERY

For two days Lorry lived through intermittent stages of delight and
despondency. His recovery from the effects of the blow administered by
Dannox was naturally rapid, his strong young constitution coming to
the rescue bravely. He saw much of the Princess, more of the Countess
Dagmar, and made the acquaintance of many lords and ladies for whom he
cared but little except when they chose to talk of their girlish ruler.
The atmosphere of the castle was laden with a depression that could not
be overcome by an assimilated gaiety. There was the presence of a shadow
that grew darker and nearer as the days went by, and there were anxious
hearts under the brave, proud spirits of those who held the destiny of
Graustark in their hands.

The princess could not bide the trouble that had sprung up in her eyes.
Her laugh, her gay conversation, her rare composure and gentle hauteur
were powerless to drive away the haunted, worried gleam in those
expressive eyes of blue. Lorry had it on his tongue's end a dozen times
during the next day or so after the count's narrative to question her
about the condition of affairs as they appeared to her. He wondered
whether she, little more than a girl, could see and understand the
enormity of the situation that confronted her and her people. A strange,
tender fear prevented him from speaking to her of the thing which was
oppressing her life. Not that he expected a rebuff from her, but that he
could not endure the thought of hearing her brave, calm recital of
the merciless story. He knew that she could narrate it all to him more
plainly than had her uncle. Something told him that she was fully aware
of the real and underlying conditions. He could see, in his imagination,
the proud, resigned face and manner of this perplexed Princess, as she
would have talked to him of her woes, and he could also picture the
telltale eyes and the troubled expression that would not be disguised.

The Countess Dagmar, when not monopolized by the very progressive, or
aggressive Anguish, unfolded to Lorry certain pages in the personal
history of the Princess, and he, of course, encouraged her confidential
humor, although there was no