"It has been a pretty game of love for you and the excellent Baldos. You

have deceived those who love you best and trust you most. What will the

princess say when she hears of last night's merry escapade? What will

she say when she learns who was hostess to a common guardsman at the

midnight hour? It is no wonder that you look terrified. It is for you to

say whether she is to know or not. You can bind me to silence. You have

lost Baldos. Take me and all that I can give you in his stead, and the

world never shall know the truth. You love him, I know, and there is but

one way to save him. Say the word and he goes free to the hills; decline

and his life is not worth a breath of air."

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"And pretending to believe this of me, you still ask me to be your

wife. What kind of a man are you?" she demanded, scarcely able to speak.

"My wife?" he said harshly. "Oh, no. You are not the wife of Baldos," he

added significantly.

"Good God!" gasped Beverly, crushed by the brutality of it all. "I would

sooner die. Would to heaven my father were here, he would shoot you as

he would a dog! Oh, how I loathe you! Don't you try to stop me! I shall

go to the princess myself. She shall know what manner of beast you are."

She was racing up the steps, flaming with anger and shame.

"Remember, I can prove what I have said. Beware what you do. I love you

so much that I now ask you to become my wife. Think well over it. Your

honor and his life! It rests with you," he cried eagerly, following her

to the door.

"You disgusting old fool," she hissed, turning upon him as she pulled

the big brass knocker on the door.

"I must have my answer to-night, or you know what will happen," he

snarled, but he felt in his heart that he had lost through his

eagerness.

She flew to Yetive's boudoir, consumed by rage and

mortification. Between sobs and feminine maledictions she poured the

whole story, in all its ugliness, into the ears of the princess.

"Now, Yetive, you have to stand by me in this," announced the narrator

conclusively, her eyes beaming hopefully through her tears.

"I cannot prevent General Marlanx from preferring serious charges

against Baldos, dear. I know he was not in your room last night. You did

not have to tell me that, because I saw you both at the balcony rail."

Beverly's face took on such a radiant look of rejoicing that Yetive was

amply paid for the surprising and gratifying acknowledgment of a second

period of eavesdropping. "You may depend upon me to protect you from

Marlanx. He can make it very unpleasant for Baldos, but he shall pay

dearly for this insult to you. He has gone too far."




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