Whatever he had done or
countenanced was right. She had betrayed his hospitality. She had
committed an infamous breach of trust. An overwhelming desire
came over her to tell him everything. She took a quick step
forward and found herself face to face with Somerfield. The
Prince was buttonholed by some friends and led away. The moment
had passed.
"Come and talk to the Duchess," Somerfield said. "She has
something delightful to propose."
CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING PRINCE MAIYO
The Duchess looked up from her writing table and nodded to her
husband, who had just entered.
"Good morning, Ambrose!" she said. "Do you want to talk to me?"
"If you can spare me five minutes," the Duke suggested. "I don't
think that I need keep you longer."
The Duchess handed her notebook to her secretary, who hastened
from the room. The Duke seated himself in her vacant chair.
"About our little party down in Hampshire next week," he began.
"I am waiting to hear from you before I send out any
invitations," the Duchess answered.
"Quite so," the Duke assented. "To tell you the truth, I don't
want anything in the nature of a house party. What I should
really like would be to get Maiyo there almost to ourselves."
His wife looked at him in some surprise.
"You seem particularly anxious to make things pleasant for this
young man," she remarked. "If he were the son of the Emperor
himself, no one could do more for him than you people have been
doing these last few weeks.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164