to
eldest son, since the first Dalberg came to American shores, and, so,
in my possession now, was an ivory miniature of the very portrait which
Courtney had in mind.

And the way of it, and how I chanced to be of the blood royal of
Valeria, was thus:

Henry the Third--he of the portrait--had two sons, Frederick and Hugo,
and one daughter, Adela. Frederick, the elder son, in due time came to
the throne and, dying, passed the title to his only child, Henry; who,
in turn, was succeeded by his only child, Frederick, the present
monarch.

Adela, the daughter, married Casimir, King of Titia,--and of her
descendants more anon.

Hugo, the younger son, was born some ten years after his brother,--to
be accurate, in 1756,--and after the old King had laid aside his sword
and retired into the quiet of his later years. With an honestly
inherited love of fighting, and the inborn hostility to England that,
even then, had existed in the Valerians for a hundred years, Hugo
watched with quickening interest the struggle between the North
American Colonies and Great Britain which began in 1775. When the
Marquis de Lafayette threw in his fortunes with the Americans, Hugo had
begged permission to follow the same course. This the old King had
sternly refused; pointing out its impropriety from both a political and
a family aspect.

But Hugo was far from satisfied, and his desire to have a chance at
England waxing in proportion as the Colonies' fortunes waned, he at
last determined to brave his fierce old father and join the struggling
American army whether his sire willed it or no. His mind once formed,
he would have been no true son of Henry had he hesitated.

The King heard him quietly to the end,--too quietly, indeed, to presage
well for Hugo. Then he answered:

"I take it sir, your decision is made beyond words of mine to change.
Of course, I could clap you into prison and cool your hot blood with
scant diet and chill stones, but, such would be scarce fitting for a
Dalberg. Neither is it fitting that a Prince of Valeria should fight
against a country with which I am at peace. Therefore, the day you
leave for America will see your name stricken from the rolls of our
House, your title revoked, and your return here prohibited by royal
decree. Do I make myself understood?"

So far as I have been able to learn, no one ever accused my
great-grandfather of an inability to understand plain speech, and old
Henry's was not obsc