"And your plans were well-defined, and your ambition to play a great role on the modern European stage possessed you utterly until you met this young man--is it not so?" "Oh, yes, but----" "I understand. It must have been a quite marvellous experience, after those barren years, to feel yourself glowing with all the vitalities of youth once more; to bring young men to your feet with a glance and to fancy yourself in love----" "Fancy!" She interrupted him passionately. "I am in love--and more--more than I ever was with you. Until I met him I did not even guess that I had the capacity to love again. It was the last thing I wanted. Abhorrent! But . . . but . . . he has something for me that you--not even you--ever had . . . that I had given up hope of finding long before I met you. . . ." She stopped, coloring and hesitating. She had an intense desire to make this man understand, but she shivered, as if her proud reserve were a visible garment that she had torn off and flung at his feet, leaving her naked to his ironic gaze. He was leaning forward, regarding her through his veiled eyes. Their light was not ironic, but it was very penetrating. "And what is that something, Marie?" he asked softly. "I--you know those things cannot be put into words." "I fancy they can. It is merely one more delusion of the senses. One of the imagination's most devilish tricks. I had it for you and you for me--for a time! In the intimacies of either a _liaison_ or matrimony that supreme delusion is soon scattered, _ma chere_." "But I believe it." She spoke obstinately, although that brawling stream seemed to take on a note of derision. "Do you? Not in the depths of your clear brain. The mist on top is dense and hot--but, alas for those mists!" "I refuse to discuss it," she said haughtily. "Why do you wish to marry me yourself?" "Because I need your partnership as much as you need mine. Even if you returned to Austria unencumbered, you could accomplish less alone than with a man of equal endowments and greater power beside you. Two strong brains and characters with similar purpose can always accomplish more together than alone. I intend to rule and to save Austria, and I need you, your help, your advice, your subtlety, your compelling fascination, and your great personality." "Do you intend to make yourself king?" she asked insolently, although his words had thrilled her.