at would you think of a man
who came half-way across the earth for the sake of a mere woman?"

"I should say he had a great deal of curiosity," she responded, coolly.

"And not much sense. There is but one woman a man would do so much for,
and she could not be a mere woman in his eyes." Lorry's face was white
and his eyes gleamed as he hurled this bold conclusion at her.

"Especially when he learns that she is a princess!" said she, her voice
so cold and repellent that his eyes closed, involuntarily, as if an
unexpected horror had come before them. "You must not tell me that you
came to see me.

"But I did come to see you and not Her Royal Highness the Princess
Yetive of Graustark stark. How was I to know?" he cried impulsively.

"But you are no longer ignorant," she said, looking from the window.

"I thought you said you were a mere woman!"

"I am--and that is the trouble!" she said, slowly turning her eyes back
to him. Then she abruptly sank to the window seat near his head. "That
is the trouble, I say. A woman is a woman, although she be a princess.
Don't you understand why you must not say such things to me?"

"Because you are a princess," he said, bitterly.

"No; because I am a woman. As a woman I want to hear them, as, a
princess I cannot. Now, have I made you understand? Have I been bold
enough?" Her face was burning.

"You--you don't mean that you--" he half whispered, drawing himself
toward her, his face glowing.

"Ach! What have I said?"

"You have said enough to drive me mad with desire for more," he cried,
seizing her hand, which she withdrew instantly, rising to her feet.

"I have only said that I wanted to hear you say you had come to see me.
Is not that something for a woman's vanity to value? I am sorry you have
presumed to misunderstand me." She was cold again, but he was not to be
baffled.

"Then be a woman and forget that you are a princess until I tell you why
I came," he cried.

"I cannot! I mean, I will not listen to you," she said, glancing about
helplessly, yet standing still within the danger circle.

"I came because I have thought of you and dreamed of you since the day
you sailed from New York. God, can I ever forget that day!"

"Please do not recall--" she began, blushing and turning to the window.

"The kiss you threw to me? Were you a princess then?" She did not
answer, and he paused for a moment, a thought striking him which at
first he did not dare to voice. Then he b