"It sounds very funny for you to say those things," admitted Beverly,
"even though they come secondhand. You were not cut out for slang."
"Why, I'm sure they are all good English words," remonstrated
Yetive. "Oh, dear, I wonder what they are doing in Graustark this very
instant. Are they fighting or--"
"No; they are merely talking. Don't you know, dear, that there is never
a fight until both sides have talked themselves out of breath? We shall
have six months of talk and a week or two of fight, just as they always
do nowadays."
"Oh, you Americans have such a comfortable way of looking at things,"
cried the princess. "Don't you ever see the serious side of life?"
"My dear, the American always lets the other fellow see the serious side
of life," said Beverly.
"You wouldn't be so optimistic if a country much bigger and more
powerful than America happened to be the other fellow."
"It did sound frightfully boastful, didn't it? It's the way we've been
brought up, I reckon,--even we southerners who know what it is to be
whipped. The idea of a girl like me talking about war and trouble and
all that! It's absurd, isn't it?"
"Nevertheless, I wish I could see things through those dear gray eyes of
yours. Oh, how I'd like to have you with me through all the months that
are to come. You would be such a help to me--such a joy. Nothing would
seem so hard if you were there to make me see things through your brave
American eyes." The princess put her arms about Beverly's neck and drew
her close.
"But Mr. Lorry possesses an excellent pair of American eyes," protested
Miss Beverly, loyally and very happily.
"I know, dear, but they are a man's eyes. Somehow, there is a
difference, you know. I wouldn't dare cry when he was looking, but I
could boo-hoo all day if you were there to comfort me. He thinks I am
very brave--and I'm not," she confessed, dismally.
"Oh, I'm an awful coward," explained Beverly, consolingly. "I think you
are the bravest girl in all the world," she added. "Don't you remember
what you did at--" and then she recalled the stories that had come from
Graustark ahead of the bridal party two years before. Yetive was finally
obliged to place her hand on the enthusiastic visitor's lips.
"Peace," she cried, blushing. "You make me feel like a--a--what is it you
call her--a dime-novel heroine?"
"A yellow-back girl? Never!" exclaimed Beverly, severely.
Visitors of importance in administration circles came at this moment and
the princess could not refuse to see them. Beverly Calhoun reluctantly
departed, but not until after giving a promise to accompany the Lorrys
to the railway station.
* * * * * The trunks had gone to be checked, and the household was quieter than it
had been in many days. There was an air of depression about the place
that had its inception in the room upstairs where sober-faced Halkins
served dinner for a not over-talkative young couple.