I wanted to see the Princess go down that tree-lined way as
once before I had seen her. Then they came to the bend; and, leaning
against my horse's shoulder, I waited. Would she remember?
Suddenly, she turned and waved her hand, exactly as she had done that
other time; only, this time, it was a beckon to follow, not a farewell.
I sprang to saddle and dashed ahead, almost fearing to find her
vanished and it only a dream. When I rounded the corner, the Princess
and Lady Helen were turning into the drive that led from the road to
the Palace; and, once again, Dehra waved me onward.
They awaited me at the gate; and, with the guard standing at attention,
we rode into the grounds. I noticed that the Princess acknowledged the
salute with her crop as though it were a sword. I had returned it with
my hand.
"Your way is the correct one," she said.
"But yours is much the prettier," I answered.
"Maybe that's why I used it," she laughed.
"It is sufficient justification," I assured her.
"His Majesty does not think so--he insists that the Colonel of the Blue
Guards should conform to the regulations."
"I salute my superior officer," I said, and used my crop as she had
done.
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