"
"But she's not his wife!" Dehra exclaimed.
"No," said the King, "she is not his wife. If I thought she were,
there would be no betrothal."
Dehra's small foot began to tap the floor.
"I have told Armand I don't care a rap for that woman," she answered.
"And if, as Your Majesty admits, she is not his wife, why should she be
permitted to control the situation to her own liking?"
The King looked at me with an amused smile.
"There, sir," said he, "you see what an unreasonable little woman
you're seeking to marry."
I leaned forward and took Dehra's hand.
"I think I rather like this particular sort of unreasonableness," I
said. Then, to her, I added: "But I must endorse His Majesty's second
condition."
She frowned; then seated herself on one end of the high writing table.
"I am prepared to hear your arguments, messieurs," she said. "Pray
proceed and be brief."
The King nodded to me.
"You have the opening," he said.
So, I explained the whole matter, as best I could, and the reasons
which moved the King and me in our decision as to the betrothal
remaining secret and the marriage deferred.
Dehra heard me through without comment; then she turned to the King.
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