“Indeed?” he asked innocently. “What have I done that I should be pitied?” “Done? Ah--but I understand American better since I have had the pleasure to know Miss Abbott. I mean--I think you are too fine to waste your love on a woman who is no more achievable than the polar star.” “Oh-- Do you think I am in love with the Archduchess? Well, I will confide to you that I am, but don’t--don’t betray me, or the Emperor will be ordering me out of the Dual Monarchy; and I have a theory that it is a good thing for a young man to be in love with the polar star. It keeps him out of much mischief.” Piroska was nonplussed, and turned her wide gaze upon him. He was eating with every appearance of appetite, and Piroska, although a sordid soul, had her idea of what a lover should be. “You never have eyes for any one else,” she murmured, at a loss. “Remember the limited time at my disposal. One month--two, perhaps, and I must walk a tread-mill in a land without polar stars.” He was thinking, “Shall I throw her off the track, or would she be more useful as an enemy? I should use her without scruple, for I am convinced that she is here to spy, and she has a ledger where her heart ought to be. It will not do to be too precipitate; she might act before we are ready. All I want is her added weight at the right moment.” He determined to be guided by events, and turned to her with his frank smile, which seemed at once to establish a personal relation. “I should like to show you America--that is a large order!--New York, rather,” he said. “You must come over some time with my sister.” And then, to the mystified but delighted little _intrigante_, he made himself as agreeable for the next half-hour as he knew how; and his spirits were so plainly unaffected that the Zápolya thought less of Ranata’s power to charm. The rising voice of Molnár gave him the excuse he wanted to assist the Archduchess in her difficult task. “You are all so tired,” he murmured to Piroska. “I had better talk to that man.” “The King is quite mistaken,” Molnár was announcing, “if he believes that our ultimate idea in wishing the universal use of the Magyar language in our own country is to divide the army against itself, or to encourage hatred towards Austria. Not only does the Constitution accepted by the King provide that Hungarian soldiers shall be commanded by Hungarian officers, but we wish the language for two reasons--to fulfil more nearly a passionate national ideal, and because it is the fitting reward of a thousand years of indomitable individuality.”