"Gwendolen, dear,--no!" said Yuki, pressing her hand. "It is most terribly serious time with all. I am glad to have Mr. Dodge here; he will not prevent any help,--he will give it. I must now relate, Mr. Dodge," she went on, very brave and self-possessed, "the new, strange circumstance--" Suddenly she flushed the color of a peony, dropped her face in her hands, and murmured to Gwendolen, "Yes, you must say it, Gwendolen. It is such immodest things for Japanese girl to speak! You tell him." "I'm not sure that I understand very clearly myself," said Gwendolen, with a puzzled frown. Iriya stared on, white, motionless, unsmiling. "As far as I can make the trouble out," said Gwendolen, flinging her words to Dodge, rather than speaking them, "Prince Hagané backs Yuki's father, utterly, against Pierre. They won't consider the possibility of her ever marrying him. Worst of all, while her heart is sore with this, they are trying to force her into marriage with some rich old man,--some influential relative, I believe, of Hagané. Isn't he a relative, Yuki?" "No-o! He is not the relative," said Yuki, from behind sheltering hands. "It is himself--he--the Prince Hagané!" "Prince Hagané! Prince Sanétomo Hagané?" cried Dodge, in incredulous surprise. "Good Lord! Why, he's the biggest man in this kingdom, next to the Emperor and the Crown Prince! Has--has he made your father a formal offer of marriage for you, Miss Yuki?" Yuki nodded "Yes." "The old sport! So this has been his game," muttered Gwendolen to herself. At the full name of Hagané, a wintry smile of pride had flashed into Iriya's set face. "Whe-e-ew!" whistled Dodge, again. He could not get this wonder fixed. "I see now why your family is wound up like a spring, Miss Yuki. It's a superlative opportunity for you!" Gwendolen sat so still that first Yuki, then Dodge, stared at her. "What is it you think I can do with Pierre for you, Yuki?" asked the American girl, in a voice as strange as her silence. Yuki was slightly disconcerted. "Only, dear, that I want to be sure the truth is known to Mr. Le Beau. I would have more peace to feel that he knows correctly. And he then will understand why I cannot write to him, or see him, or answer when he sings the song of Carmen I told you." "You intend then to hold to Pierre, and throw over Prince Hagané, no matter what the consequences?" asked Gwendolen, curiously. "I know not about 'throw over.' It sounds a disrespectful word to so great a man. But I am bound to Pierre, as you know, by the promise." Again her face flushed. "I'll wager your father does not consider that promise binding," put in Dodge. "No, not my father, and not Prince Hagané," said Yuki, simply. "But then, you know, they is not me!" "I--er--presume not," answered he, absently. Now that the conversation was all in English, the pale effigy of Iriya did not even turn its eyes from one face to the other. It was her duty to her husband to be present, and so she remained.