Ughtred was, on the whole, a man ill versed in women's ways. Yet even
he was conscious of a subtle change in the girl who sat by his side.
The frank friendliness of her manner towards him, which had been a
constant barrier against any suggestion of more sentimental relations,
was for the moment gone. Her eyes were soft and her face was eloquent
with beautiful and unspoken sympathy. The change was indefinable, but
apparent. Ughtred felt it, and sighed.
"This may be the last talk we shall have together for a long time," he
said, gravely; "perhaps forever. I wonder if I might be permitted--to
say something, which has come very near my heart lately."
"You may say anything you choose," she murmured.
"You know that lately I have been travelling about my country--trying
to get to know my people and to understand them. I will tell you,
Sara, what has made the greatest impression upon me. It is their
beautiful domesticity. I think that it has taught me to understand a
little how much fuller and sweeter life may be when one has a wife to
care for, and to help one. And, Sara, I think that I too have been
often lonely, and I too have needed a wife."
"Yes!"
It was no more than a whisper, but it thrilled the man. He touched
her fingers--warm and soft, they seemed almost to invite his caress.
"Sara, I have been dreaming since then, and I thought that when my
people got to understand me a little more, to trust me and believe
in me, I would go to them and say 'I am going to give you a Queen.
Only I am a man as you are men, and I must choose as you have chosen,
the one woman who has my heart.' And, Sara, there might have been
difficulties, but I think that we should have smoothed them away----"
"If!" she echoed.
"If the woman I love, Sara, cared a little for me."
It was dusk, and Ughtred scarcely knew how it happened, but she was in
his arms and they were very happy. It was dusk then, but the stars
were shining when the cathedral clock reminded him that his
love-making must be brief.
"Dear," she murmured, "if you must go, at least remember that you have
made me very happy."
"And I," he answered, cheerfully, "am afraid no longer of anything. I
have become a raving optimist. I feel that if the war comes we shall
sweep the Turks from the face of the earth."
She held out her hand and drew him to her.
"You will not repent?" she murmured. "You ought to marry a princess."
He kissed her on the lips.
"Every woman in the world," he answered, "is a princess to the man who
loves her. You are my princess. There will never be any other!"
She walked with him towards the house.
"I ought to have been discussing your departure with Mr. Van Decht,
and instead I have been discussing other things with you."
"Discussing what?"
"Your departure!"
She laughed softly.
"Do you think that we are going away?"
"You must," he answered, sadly. "Theos may be no safe place for you in
forty-eight hours even."
She pressed his arm lightly.
"Dear," she said, "you are foolish. If ever I am to be anything to you
and these people what would they think of me if I ran away when evil
times came? But wait! You must hear what father says. He knows nothing
of this."
They found him in the room he called his study. He looked up from his
desk as they entered.
"Father," Sara said, "the King wants us to leave to-morrow morning. In
forty-eight hours he says the city may be in danger."
Mr. Van Decht wheeled round in his recently imported American chair,
and puffed vigorously at his cigar.
"I wasn't reckoning upon leaving just yet," he remarked, quietly.
"Were you, Sara?"
"No!"
Ughtred looked from one to the other.
"I am afraid you don't quite understand the situation, Mr. Van Decht.
I do not think it probable of course, but it is possible that the city
may be surrounded in less than a week."
Mr. Van Decht nodded.
"I guess it isn't quite so bad as that," he answered. "In any case,
I'd like you to understand this. We've had a pretty good time here,
and we haven't any idea of scuttling out just because things aren't
exactly booming. I've a tidy idea of engineering, and I think I can
show you a wrinkle or two in trench-making. Then there's another
thing--you'll allow a man's a right to do what he pleases with his own
money?"
"Why, I suppose so," Ughtred answered.
"Well, I'm not given to bragging," Mr. Van Decht continued, "but I
reckon I'm one of the richest men in the States. Accordingly, as I'm
sort of a resident here I claim the right to help the war fund. I've
put a million to your credit at the Credit Lyonnaise, and if more's
wanted--there's plenty. I don't want any thanks; I don't mind telling
you that I'd give a lot more to see those low-down skunks get the
whipping they deserve."
Ughtred was for a moment speechless. It was Sara who replied for him.
"We are very much obliged, father," she said, smiling at him. "You
don't mind, do you?"
He looked from one to the other. He did not affect any surprise, but
his face was grave.
"Sara has promised that some day if we are spared she will be my
wife," Ughtred said, simply. "I hope that you will consent."
Mr. Van Decht nodded thoughtfully.
"I had an idea," he said, hesitatingly, "that you would be not exactly
a free agent in such a matter."
Ughtred smiled.
"My kingdom is a tiny one," he answered, "and I do not think after a
while that there will be any difficulty at all."
Mr. Van Decht rose from his chair and shook hands solemnly with the
young man.
"I wasn't reckoning upon having a King for a son-in-law," he said,
"but I know a man when I see him, and if it works out to be possible
you can take my consent for granted. Sara is the daughter of plain
people with no family to boast of, but I tell you this, sir, I am a
man with few wants, and I will give Sara the largest dowry that has
ever been given by prince or commoner. I reckon I'm worth five million
pounds, and I'll settle four and a half upon her. Theos wants money,
and that may take things a bit smoother in case of trouble."
"You are magnificently generous, sir!" Ughtred answered. "I am afraid
that nowadays a bride with such a dowry would rank above princesses."
The cathedral clock chimed again. Ughtred tore himself away. Reist met
him at the door, his eyes blazing with excitement.
"Effenden Pascha has left the city!" he exclaimed. "The Turks are
streaming over the frontier--Bushnieff has wired for reinforcements."
"The supply trains are waiting?" Ughtred asked, quickly.
"With steam up!"
"Your carriage quickly. To the barracks!" Ughtred exclaimed.