person, both in appearance and repute; and thirdly,
because my father is only urging this match to serve his own ends. Our
unhappy history is so widely known that there is no harm in telling you
that my mother and he were separated during many years, and when mamma
died three years ago she left all her money to me, absolutely under my
control. I was young, only seventeen, but I managed to retain it,
though goodness only knows how, and this horrid Hungarian prince wants
it--to help him to regain a throne, he says--but I don't believe him."

"You could not be forced into matrimony," said Curtis, with a slow
gravity that was lost on his dejected hearer.

"You cannot have lived in France, or you would not say that," was the
bitter answer. "Everyone, everything, was opposed to me. I was a
minor, and one against many. The laws seemed to conspire with my
relatives to force me into the power of a beast. . . . Yes, it sounds
horrid on my lips, but the man is really a beast," and she stamped an
emphatic foot on the floor; Curtis could see the white circles over the
tiny knuckles as her hands clenched in protest. They were such pretty
hands, too. He had often smiled at the notion of a man kissing a
woman's hand, but it did not strike him now as a specially foolish act.

"Let us forget him," he agreed.

"But how can I forget him? He will be here to-morrow. Once my father
and he have found me, what am I to do? Die, I suppose! . . . I would
rather die than marry Count Vassilan, and again I would rather die than
figure in a vulgar brawl, such as the newspapers would take a delight
in. My father is well aware of that, and will play on my
weakness. . . . B-but--I may--be able--to defeat them--in another way."

Curtis stood up. The sound of her grief maddened him, and he threw
prudence to the winds.

"The first reason you gave was the most convincing one, so far as you
personally are concerned, Lady Hermione," he said, making the effort of
his life to speak calmly. "You said you did not want to marry any man."

"Y-yes, it is true. I d-don't."

"Still, there is only one way out of your trouble. You must marry
me--to-night."

The girl whirled round on him; her eyes were glistening with tears, but
her face was radiant.

"Do you really mean that?" she cried.

"I do."

"Then never let anyone tell me that the age of chivalry has passed."

"I fancy it has just begun," he said, though the jest nearly choked him.