"May I intrude, Your Royal Highness?" he asked.
"Come along," said I; "Lady Helen wants to hear some gossip and I don't
know any."
A bit of a smile came into his eyes. "And that, though you are,
yourself, the most gossiped about individual in Dornlitz," he answered.
"Another penalty of my new estate," said I; "the butt of all and the
confidant of none."
Courtney tapped my Baton. "Have you noticed, Lady Helen, what a steady
run of hard luck our friend, here, has had ever since he came to
Valeria?" he asked.
"Indeed I have," said she; "and I've been so sorry for him."
Then she nodded most pleasantly to someone, and Courtney and I turned
and bowed. It was the Marquise de Vierle, wife of the French
Ambassador.
"How about her Masque to-night?" I asked; "will it be worth while?"
"It's very evident you are new to Dornlitz," Courtney observed--and
Lady Helen laughed.
"The Vierle Balls outrival even the Court functions," she explained.
"Are you going?" I asked her.
"I am, indeed."
"And you, Courtney?"
"I shall look in late."