"Trust me, of course you could, dear Princess!" De Brensault exclaimed eagerly. "I will be kind to her, I promise you. Be sensible. She would feel this way with any one. You yourself have said so. There can be no more suitable marriage for her than with me. Let us call it arranged. Tell me what it is that you propose. Perhaps I may be able to help." "Jeanne is, of course, not of age," the Princess said thoughtfully, "and she is entirely under my control. In England people are rather foolish about these things, but abroad they understand the situation better." "Why not in Belgium?" De Brensault exclaimed. "We might go to a little town I know of very near to my estates. Everything could be arranged there very easily. I am quite well-known, and no questions would be asked." The Princess nodded thoughtfully. "That might do," she admitted. "Why not start at once?" De Brensault suggested. "There is nothing to be gained by waiting. We might even leave to-morrow." The Princess shook her head. "You are too impetuous, my dear Count," she said. "But what is there to wait for?" he demanded. "I must see my lawyers first," she answered slowly, "and before I leave London I must pay some bills." The Count drew a cheque book from his pocket. "I will keep my word," he said. "I will pay you on account the amount we spoke of." The Princess opened her escritoire briskly. "There is a pen and ink there," she said, "and blotting paper. Really your cheque will be a god-send to me. I seem to have had nothing but expenses lately, and Jeanne's guardians are as mean as they can be. They grumble even at allowing me five thousand a year." De Brensault twirled his moustache as he seated himself at the table. "Five thousand a year," he muttered. "It is not a bad allowance for a young girl who is not yet of age." The Princess shrugged her shoulders. "My dear Count," she said, "you do not know what our expenses are. Jeanne is extravagant, so am I extravagant. It is all very well for her, but for me it is another matter. I shall be a poor woman when I have resigned my charge." De Brensault handed the cheque across. "You will not find me," he said, "ungrateful. And now, my dear lady, let us talk about Jeanne. Do you think that you could persuade her to leave London so suddenly?" "I am going up-stairs now," the Princess said, "to have a little talk with her. Dine with me here to-night quite quietly, and I will tell you what fortune I have had." De Brensault went away, on the whole fairly content with his visit. The Princess endorsed his cheque, and with a sigh of relief enclosed it in an envelope, rang for a maid and ordered her carriage. Then she went up-stairs to Jeanne, whom she found busy writing at her desk. She hesitated for a moment, and then went and stood with her hand resting upon the girl's shoulder. "Jeanne," she said, "I think that we have both been a little hasty."