must take you too, and it will be far easier for
me when they have seen you.

"Now, no hesitation, no doubts, no weighing of pros and cons. Just set
your teeth and toss your head up, and tell Pauline to sling your
belongings into your boxes, and before you start send me one word in a
telegram. I am horribly busy, of course (for details see daily papers),
and this must be the most extraordinary love letter ever written; but
what does that matter when you and I understand each other? It was you
who sent me here. Don't forget that, dear teller of fortunes, and I want
you to be standing by my side when the storm breaks that must surely be
brewing for me after an incredible success."

There was more in the same vein. Alexis the King seemed to differ in no
essential from the Alec Delgrado who used to wait for her every day in
the neighborhood of the Pont Neuf. Dare she risk it? The question had
tortured her ever since the early morning. It was not that the prospect
of being a Queen was dazzling or even dismaying in itself; she really
dreaded the result of such a marriage on the fortunes of the man she
loved.

But against that self sacrificing attitude she was forced to admit the
plea of Alec's own bewildering lack of conventionality. If half the
stories in the newspapers were true, he was the most original minded
monarch that ever reigned. She was quite sure that his answer to any
evasive reply on her part would be a public announcement of the fact
that his promised bride was a young lady in Paris, Joan Vernon by name.
And that would be worse almost than going quietly to Delgratz and being
married there.

What was she to do? She found Felix Poluski's gray eyes looking at her
steadfastly. In this dilemma he was her only trusted counselor, and he
had already advised her to yield.

"If I even knew his relatives," she faltered. "His parents live in
Paris. We have never met. How can I say to his mother, 'Your son wants
me to marry him. What do you think of me?' She, a Princess, would scoff
at the idea."

"Alec is well aware of that; hence he has written direct to you, and
said nothing to any other person. Let me assure you that if Prince
Michael Delgrado had gone to Delgratz he would have died a sudden and
violent death. Prince Michael knew it, and declined the distinction.
Believe me, too, Alec has the very best of reasons for consulting no one
in his choice of a wife. Now, Joan, be brave! When all is said and done,
it sh