I stepped back and raised my hat.
She gathered the reins slowly; then bent and patted the mare's neck.
I made no move.
"I am waiting," she said presently, with a quick glance my way.
"I do not see the groom," said I, looking back along the road.
She gave a little laugh. "You won't," she said. "He thinks I went
another way."
"Then Your Highness means----"
"You do not look so stupid," she remarked.
"Sometimes men's looks are deceiving."
"Then, sir, Her Highness means she is waiting for you to mount," she
said, very graciously.
"As her groom?" I asked.
"As anything you choose, so long as you ride beside me to the hill
above the Park."
I took saddle at the vault and we trotted away.
"Why did you make me ask for your attendance?" she demanded.
"Because I dared not offer it."
"Another deception in your looks," she replied.
I laughed. She had evened up.
"You are a soldier--an American officer?" she said suddenly.
"Your Highness has guessed most shrewdly," I answered, in surprise.
"Are you staying at the Embassy?" she asked.
"No," said I. "I am not on the staff. I am only a bird of passage."
"Do you know General Russell?"
"My father knew him, I believe," I answered, evasively, and turned the
talk into less personal matters.
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