For a second Gondremark staggered under the shrewdness of the
attack; the next, he had perfectly recovered. 'Do I?' he said. 'It
is very possible. I have observed a similar tendency in your
Highness.'

It was so openly spoken, and appeared so just, that Seraphina
breathed again. Her vanity had been alarmed, and the greatness of
the relief improved her spirits. 'Well,' she said, 'all this is
little to the purpose. We are keeping Frederic without, and I am
still ignorant of our line of battle. Come, co-admiral, let us
consult. . . . How am I to receive him now? And what are we to do
if he should appear at the council?'

'Now,' he answered. 'I shall leave him to my Princess for just now!
I have seen her at work. Send him off to his theatricals! But in
all gentleness,' he added. 'Would it, for instance, would it
displease my sovereign to affect a headache?'

'Never!' said she. 'The woman who can manage, like the man who can
fight, must never shrink from an encounter. The knight must not
disgrace his weapons.'

'Then let me pray my BELLE DAME SANS MERCI,' he returned, 'to affect
the only virtue that she lacks. Be pitiful to the poor young man;
affect an interest in his hunting; be weary of politics; find in his
society, as it were, a grateful repose from dry considerations.
Does my Princess authorise the line of battle?'

'Well, that is a trifle,' answered Seraphina. 'The council - there
is the point.'