He was rather pleased with himself at thus rounding off the discussion: for while reiterating his promise he had indicated that his own opinion was quite as unchanged as that of his ministers. And so with a little time still left in which to turn round he bethought him of the duty which lay on him to set his house in order against future events. And then it struck him how very important it was that Max should now "settle down" and eliminate for good and all certain elements from his life. Yes, it had become quite necessary that Max should marry. III Max was back again in his proper quarters, and the Queen had been to pay him a visit of motherly condolence. She, too, was set upon eliminating from his life those things which ought not to be in it; and finding him still rather feeble from the blow that had fallen on him, and with a head still bandaged, she thought it a seasonable opportunity to press him in the way he should go. But she was not one of those who have any taste for probing into young men's lives; she had an instinctive feeling that such a line of ethical exploration lay entirely beyond her; and so when she approached the subject her touch was only upon the surface. "Max, my dear," she said fondly, "I do wish you would marry." Max smiled at her with filial indulgence, and then, perceiving that there might be entertainment in a conversation well packed with double meanings, he fell in with her suggestion. "I wish I could," he said, "but there are difficulties that you don't understand." "Oh, yes, I think I do," she answered. "Of course with us there are always difficulties. The choice is so limited." "I should rather incline to say that it is fixed." "You mean just to the two I told you of? But you wouldn't have either of them." "Perhaps _I_ ought to say that _I_ am fixed, then; I can't very well see myself changing." "Oh, no, Max, no! Don't say that!" cried his mother, alarmed. "It is so very important that you should marry. And people are beginning to expect it." "Yes, but as I say, there are difficulties--religious ones." This was strange news for the Queen. Had Max a conscience then? It was a portent for which she had not been prepared. "Of course," she said, "I don't want to ask questions." "Perhaps you had better not." "But I do want you to settle." "I am settled," said Max. It was dreadful to hear him say so, and a horrible idea that he had contracted a secret marriage with that foreign woman crossed her mind. Was this the difficulty that she did not understand? She grew timorous, afraid that he was going to tell her something--set before her some moral problem which she could not possibly solve. What if he were trying to entrap her, to lure her into taking sides with him over something no King or Government could countenance? From such a danger as that all her conventional femininity gathered itself in a panic-stricken bundle and fled. "Max, dear," she said, "I would much rather you didn't tell me."