smiled good-humouredly. "It is very unkind of you," he
said, "to have thought of deserting me on such a day as this."

"My brother----"

"Oh, Nicholas is invaluable," the King declared, lightly. "He can tell
me what to say to the men, but it is in receiving the women I need
your help."

"The Baroness Kolashin is as well acquainted with our countrywomen as
I," Marie answered. "I did not doubt but that her aid would be
sufficient."

"The Baroness," Ughtred answered, "has done her best; but another hour
by her side would rob me of the few wits I have left. I should like to
know for what special sin I was committed to her charge."

Marie shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly, but she did not smile.

"I am at your Majesty's service," she said.

Ughtred was puzzled. In what manner had he offended her?

"If my message seemed to you peremptory," he said, "will you not
ascribe it to my desire to taste the full measure of my powers? I know
nothing of the privileges of a king save what I have read in books.
But it seems to me that included amongst them must surely be the
privilege of choosing one's companions--and one's friends."

"Your Majesty," Marie answered, "may find that a rash assumption. It
may lead to disappointment. Friends are scarcely to be made in a day,
or to order. You must send for some of those whom you have left behind
in England."

He looked at her, curious to know if anything lurked behind those
words.

"Mine has not been the sort of life," he said, quietly, "which leads
to the making of friendships. I have been a wanderer always, and a
lonely one. I had hoped to fill the empty places--here."

There was a note of appeal in his tone--dignified, yet not in a sense
without pathos. He glanced at Nicholas, but he looked first at Marie.
A faint touch of colour flushed her cheeks. Her manner was visibly
softened.

"I trust that your Majesty may not be disappointed," she said. And her
eyes fell before his for the first time.

A crash of music reminded them of those who still waited to bow before
the King. So they passed out into the great ballroom, and mounting the
dais, Marie stood on the King's left hand. The room was a blaze of
light, of brilliant uniforms and beautiful dresses. At ten o'clock,
Reist came up with a look of relief upon his face, and a gleam of
excitement in his eyes.

"The English Minister and his wife, your Majesty," he murmured. "It is
excellent. The others will follow."

T