"Yes, yes, my dearest," said he; and he was about to say more, when,
glancing round, he caught my gaze retreating in hasty confusion to
my plate. I dared not look up again, but I felt his scowl on me. I
suppose that I deserved punishment for my eavesdropping.
"And when can we get off, Charlie?" asked Denny, in his clear young
voice. My thoughts had wandered from him, and I paused for a moment,
as a man does when a question takes him unawares. There was silence
at the next table also. The fancy seemed absurd; but it occurred to me
that there also my answer was being waited for. Well, they could know
if they liked; it was no secret.
"In a fortnight," said I. "We'll travel easily, and get thereon the
seventh of next month; that's the day on which I'm entitled to take
over my kingdom. We shall go to Rhodes. Hogvardt will have bought me a
little yacht, and then--good-by to all this!" And a great longing
for solitude and a natural life came over me as I looked round on the
gilded cornices, the gilded mirrors, the gilded flower-vases, and the
highly gilded company of the Optimum.
I was roused from my pleasant dream by a high, vivacious voice, which
I knew very well. Looking up, I saw Miss Hipgrave, her mother, and
young Bennett Hamlyn standing before me. I disliked young Hamlyn, but
he was always very civil to me.
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