ing, so Lorry had one
great secret to cherish alone.

"Has she chosen the course she will pursue?" asked Lorry, as the
Countess concluded her story. Isis face was turned away.

"She cannot decide. We have wept together over this dreadful, this
horrible thing. You do not know what it means to all of us, Mr. Lorry.
We love her, and there is not one in our land who would sacrifice her to
save this territory. As for Gabriel, Graustark would kill her before she
should go to him. Still she cannot let herself sacrifice those northern
subjects when by a single act she can save them. You see, the Princess
has not forgotten that her father brought this war upon the people,
and she feels it her duty to pay the penalty of his error, whatever the
cost."

"Is there no other to whom she can turn no other course?" asked Lorry.

"There is none who would assist us, bankrupt as we are. There is a
question I want to ask, Mr. Lorry. Please look at me--do not stare at
the fountain all the time. Why have you come to Edelweiss?" She asked
the question so boldly that his startled embarrassment was an unspoken
confession. He calmed himself and hesitated long before answering,
weighing his reply. She sat close beside him, her clear gray eyes
reading him like a book.

"I came to see a Miss Guggenslocker," he answered at last.

"For what purpose? There must have been an urgent cause to bring you so
far. You are not an American banker?"

"I had intended to ask her to be my wife," he said, knowing that secrecy
was useless and seeing a faint hope.

"You did not find Miss Guggenslocker."

"No. I have not found her."

"And are you going home disappointed, Mr. Lorry, because she is not
here?"

"I leave the answer to your tender imagination."

There was a long pause.

"May I ask when you expect to leave Graustark?" she asked, somewhat
timidly.

"Why do you wish to know?" he asked in turn.

"Because I know how hopeless your quest has been. You have found Miss
Guggenslocker, but she is held behind a wall so strong and impregnable
that you cannot reach her with the question you came to ask. You have
come to that wall, and now you must turn back. I have asked, how soon?"

"Not until your Princess bids me take up my load and go. You see, my
lady, I love to sit beneath the shadow of the wall you describe. It will
require a royal edict to compel me to abandon my position."

"You cannot expect the Princess to drive you from her country,--you