Then, suddenly, her glance dropped and a blush stole slowly across her
cheek.
"To me, dearest," she said softly, "you have been a lover since that
day in the forest when you were only Captain Smith."
I bowed my head. "You Princess of women," I said. "How near I was to
losing you."
She turned and deliberately let her hair rest on my face a moment.
"There, dear," said she, "is my first kiss to you. I shall have to
wait a bit for yours to me."
"And you really want my kiss, Dehra?" I asked doubtingly. Small
wonder, indeed, I was slow to realize my fortune.
"You great stupid," she laughed. "Can't you understand I have wanted
it for six long years?"
"I think," said I, "I'm dreaming."
"For a dreamer, you're wonderfully brave," she said. "Do you
appreciate that you had the audacity to propose to the Princess Royal
of Valeria while she sat in the Royal Box before all the fashion of
Dornlitz?"
"My dear," said I, "I would propose to her a dozen times under like
conditions if I thought, at the end, she would do as she has done
to-night."
"If she had known that, she might have put you to the test."
"It would have made her wait only the longer for that kiss she wants,"
I said.
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