"Jack," came in wondering tones, "for mercy's sake, what are you
telling me?"
"Phyllis, can you not look back, perhaps as in a dream, to an old inn,
where soldiers and ministers in a hurry and confusion moved to and fro?
No; I dare say you were too young. The Princess Hildegarde of
Hohenphalia is your sister." I rose and bowed to her respectfully.
"My sister?--the Princess?--I, a Princess? Jack," indignantly, "you
are mocking me! It is not fair!"
"Phyllis, as sure as I stand before you, all I have said is true. And
now let me be the first to do homage to Your Serene Highness," taking
her hand despite her efforts to withdraw it, and kissing it.
"It is unreal! Impossible! Absurd!" she cried.
"Let me repeat the words of the French philosopher, who said, 'As
nothing is impossible, let us believe in the absurd,'" said I.
"But why has Uncle Bob kept me in ignorance all these years?"
unconvinced.
"Because, as I have said before, he knew nothing till to-day. I have
even spoken to the Chancellor, who has promised to aid in recovering
your rights."
"And does she know--the Princess Hildegarde? My sister? How strange
the word feels on my tongue."
"No; she does not know, but presently she will."
Then Phyllis asked in an altered tone, "And what is all this to you
that you thrust this greatness upon me?--a greatness, I assure you, for
which I do not care?"
I regarded her vaguely. I saw a precipice at my feet. I could not
tell her that in making her a Princess I was making Gretchen free. I
could not confess that my motive was purely a selfish one.
"It was a duty," said I, evasively.
"And in what way will it concern the Princess Hildegarde's affairs--and
yours?" She was rather merciless.
"Why should it concern any affair of mine?" I asked.
"You love her, and she loves you; may she not abdicate in my favor?"
"And if she should?" with an accent of impatience.
Phyllis grew silent. "Forgive me, Jack!" impulsively. "But all this
is scarcely to be believed. And then you say there are no proofs."
"Not in the eyes of the law," I replied; "but nature has written it in
your faces." I was wondering why she had not gone into raptures at the
prospect of becoming a Princess.