ieved the girl was to
stay at the country house of some old friend of the Emperor. At the
time, I attached little importance to her chatter, believing that she
merely wished to give me a spiteful slap or two, as is her habit when
she has the chance. For once, though, she has succeeded in stealing a
march upon me; and she kept the secret of her plan until too late for
me to have any hope of preventing Leopold from fulfilling his
engagement at her house. After that was safely arranged, I don't doubt
she was overjoyed that I should guess her plot."

"Do you think that, even if you'd known sooner, you could have stopped
the Emperor from visiting at Lyndalberg?" asked Egon. "I know that you
are iron; but he is steel."

"I would have stopped him," returned the Chancellor. "I should have
made no bones about the reason; for I've found that the best way with
Leopold is to blurt out the whole truth, and fight him--my experience
against his will. If advice and warning hadn't sufficed to restrain
him from insulting the girl who is to be his wife, and injuring the
reputation of the girl who never can be, I would have devised some
expedient to thwart him, for his own good. I'm not a man to give up
when I feel that I am right."

"Neither is he," Egon added. "But since you seem so determined to nip
this dainty blossom of love in the bud, we'll hope it's not yet too
late for a sharp frost to blight it."

"I sent for you," said the Chancellor, brushing away metaphor with an
impatient gesture, "to show me the precise spot on which to lay my
finger."

"I'll do my best to deserve your confidence," responded Egon,
gracefully. "Let me see, where shall I begin? Well, as you know, it's
simpler for the Emperor to see a good deal of the woman he admires, at
a friend's house than almost anywhere else, in his own country. This
particular woman risked her life to save his; and it's so natural for
him to be gracious in return, that people would be surprised if he
were not. There's so much in their favor, at the commencement.

"Miss Mowbray and her mother arrived at Lyndalberg before the Emperor,
had made friends there, and were ready for the campaign. The girl is
undoubtedly beautiful--the prettiest creature I think I ever saw--and
she has a winning way which takes with women as well as men. Not one
of her fellow-guests seems to put a wrong construction on her
flirtation with the Emperor, or his with her. The other men would
think him blind i