She obeyed his gesture, and sank down in a chair with that inimitable noiseless grace which made every attitude of hers a study for an artist, and waited for his next words; while he, standing opposite to her, bent his eyes upon her face with a certain wistfulness and appeal. “I have never asked you a favour,” he began--“and--since the day we married,--I have never sought your sympathy. The years have come and gone, leaving no visible trace on either you or me, so far as outward looks go,--and if they have scarred and wrinkled us inwardly, only God can see those scars! But as time moves on with a man,--I know not how it is with a woman,--if he be not altogether a fool, he begins to consider the way in which he has spent, or is spending his life,--whether he has been, or is yet likely to be of any use to the world he lives in,--or if he is of less account than the blown froth of the sea, or the sand on the shore. Myriads and myriads of men and women are no more than this--no more than midges or ants or worms;--but every now and then in the course of centuries, one man does stand forth from the million,--one heart does beat courageously enough to send the firm echo of its pulsations through a long vista of time,--one soul does so exalt and inspire the rest of the world by its great example that we are, through its force reminded of something divine,--something high and true in a low wilderness of shams!” He paused; the Queen raised her beautiful eyes, and smiled strangely. “Have you only just now thought of this?” she said. He flushed, and bit his lip. “To be perfectly honest with you, Madam, I have thought of nothing worth thinking about for many years! Most men in my position would probably make the same confession. Perhaps had you given me any great work to do for your sake I should have done it! Had _you_ inspired me to achieve some great conquest, either for myself or others, I should no doubt have conquered! But I have lived for twenty-one years in your admirable company without being commanded by you to do anything worthy of a king;--I am now about to command Myself!--in order to leave some notable trace of my name in history.” While he thus spoke, a faint flush coloured the Queen’s cheeks, but it quickly died away, leaving her very pale. Her fingers strayed among the great jewels she wore, and toyed unconsciously with a ruby talisman cut in the shape of a heart, and encircled with diamonds. The King noted the flash of the gems against the whiteness of her hand, and said: