"Proceed."
"Do you think that I, who have been the Heir Presumptive since the
instant of my birth, almost, will calmly step aside and permit you to
take my place?"
I looked at him, indifferently, and made no answer.
"Do you fancy, for an instant," he went on, "that the people of Valeria
would have a foreigner for King?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"And even if old Frederick were to become so infatuated with you that
he would restore you to Hugo's place in the Line of Succession, do you
imagine, that the House of Nobles would hesitate to annul it the
instant he died?"
From the written words, one might well infer that he spoke loudly and
in open anger; whereas, in fact, his face was smiling and his voice was
even more soft than usual. It behooved me to meet him in kind.
"As you seem to have been doing my thinking, cousin, perhaps you have
also thought out my answers. If you have, I shall be glad to hear
them; it will save me the labor of thinking them out for myself."
His smile broadened. "The only labor I can promise to save you,
cousin, is that of being King."
"I fear it is a bit early for me to choose my Prime Minister," I said.
His smile became a laugh.
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