"I think I know what you mean, Baldos," said Yetive, seeing that Beverly
would not intervene. "We are sorry. No one trusts to your honor more
than I do. My husband believes in you. I will confess that you are to be
arrested as a spy to-morrow. To-night you are to serve as a guard in the
castle. This should prove to you that I have unbounded faith in you.
Moreover, I believe in you to the extent that I should not be afraid to
trust you if you were to go out into the world with every secret which
we possess. You came here under a peculiar stress of circumstances, not
wholly of your own volition. Believe me, I am your friend."
"I shall revere your highness forever for those words," said he
simply. His eyes went hungrily to Beverly's averted face, and then
assumed a careless gleam which indicated that he had resigned himself to
the inevitable.
"I am constrained to ask you one question, sir," went on the
princess. "You are not the common goat-hunter you assume. Will you tell
me in confidence who you really are?" The others held their breath. He
hesitated for a moment.
"Will it suffice if I say that I am an unfortunate friend and advocate
of Prince Dantan? I have risked everything for his sake and I fear I
have lost everything. I have failed to be of service to him, but through
no fault of mine. Fate has been against me."
"You are Christobal," cried Dagmar eagerly. He gave her a startled
glance, but offered no denial. Beverly's face was a study. If he were
Christobal, then what of the game-warden's daughter?
"We shall question you no further," said Yetive. "You enlisted to serve
Miss Calhoun. It is for her to command you while you are here. May God
be with you to the end. Miss Calhoun, will you tell him what his duties
are for to-night? Come, my dear."
Yetive and Dagmar walked slowly from the room, leaving Beverly and her
guard alone.
"I am at your service, Miss Calhoun," he said easily. His apparent
indifference stung her into womanly revolt.
"I was a fool last night," she said abruptly.
"No; I was the fool. I have been the fool from the beginning. You shall
not blame yourself, for I do not blame you. It has been a sweet comedy,
a summer pastime. Forget what I may have said to you last night, forget
what my eyes may have said for weeks and weeks."
"I shall never forget," said she. "You deserve the best in the
world. Would that I could give it to you. You have braved many dangers
for my sake. I shall not forget. Do you know that we were watched last
night?"