"The Princess receives no notes," he had said. "Gretchen--it was a
different matter."
And Hillars had slept till after noon. It had been a bad morning for
me. The wounded lieutenant had been carried away the night before, and
there had not been anything for me to do but wander about--waiting.
"Will you help me with the Rhine wine?" asked Hillars.
"No. My head is fuddled enough as it is."
"Then you must let me do all the talking."
"And why you?"
"I shall know better how to irritate them," with a laugh. "They will
not take any particular interest in you when they set eyes on me. Homo
sum! I am the man they are looking for. They will find plenty of me.
I shall be a syndicate in myself; where they expect to find one man,
they will find a dozen, all alive and kicking. It will be good sport."
"What the devil are you up to?" I demanded.
"Wait and see; wait and see. Come, let us receive them in the hall.
The affair must be conducted on the line of court etiquette. First, we
shall try to avert hostilities by the aid of diplomacy; if that fails
the Princess herself will be made to vindicate us. And why not?"
"You are not going to drag her in!" I exclaimed.
"My dear Jack, of course not. The Prince and the Count will do that
for us. You understand that she is concerned in all that is to take
place, do you not? Well, then, it will cost her but little."
"But this fellow, the Prince!" I cried. "Let us get out while there is
time."
Dan regarded me seriously.
"You aren't afraid of him; what do you want to run away for? My son,
there will be some very good sport before this is done. You will miss
it by running away."
"It's meeting the man who is to marry her--the woman I love. That is
the reason."
"To marry her--the woman I love!" he repeated softly. "Yes, it is
hard. But it isn't any worse for you than for me."
"Forgive me, Dan! You know--"
"Yes, yes; I know," crossly. "Hang it! can't I punch it into your head
that I am taking all this trouble on your account? If it were not for
you, do you suppose I'd wait? The Prince shall never marry the
Princess. Will that satisfy you? Now, look pleasant, as the
photographer says, for here they are."