“Now--I live--I breathe--Signorina! Si--si. I understand! I take the little organ and monkey. I go. I see all the people. I whisper to those I trust. We meet. I go again to West Side and do the same. I go everywhere and I tell you. Si--si. I _live_ again!” She threw her arms about Virginia, held her in silence and left with quick, eager step--the light of purpose flashing in her dark eyes. CHAPTER XXXIX The Governor-General received Virginia in royal state. His manner was gracious and genial. He led her to a seat in his great library and closed the doors. The royal guard took his stand outside. “I told you, Miss Holland,” he began eagerly, “that I had high ambitions. You see that I am a man of my word. Of course, the thing that happened was inevitable. It was written in the book of Fate. Had I not seized the reins--another would. Conditions made my coup possible. For the excesses of the Imperial Conquering Army I have no words in palliation. Such is war. Had I known the peril of your father and mother, I assure you I would have hurried to their rescue--you believe me when I say this?” “I am sure of it, now,” she answered promptly. “I hurried to Babylon the moment I learned that the defense had collapsed and our troops were victorious--” He paused and leaned closer. “I want to apologize for the unpardonable blunder I made the last time we met in this house. I did not realize then how deeply and madly I love you. In anguish I learned it too late. But I have bided my time. I have lived to prove my devotion in the hour of your peril and I have only begun what I wish to do for you--” Again he paused, his eyes devouring her pensive beauty. “I had rather win you than rule the Empire that’s mine. I would win as a man woos and wins the one woman he loves--you believe me when I say this?” “Yes,” was the frank reply. “I believe now that you are in dead earnest.” “Good. I don’t ask if you love me. I know that you do not. I do not ask you to marry me immediately. I know that I must first win your regard. I prize you all the more for this reason--” “Man-like, of course,” Virginia interrupted with a smile. “First, I wish to pay you personally the highest tribute a man in my position can give to any man or women. I am going to offer you the second highest place in the Empire next to mine. Your fortune has disappeared in the wreck of war. You shall rebuild it tenfold through the work I shall place in your hands. My first ambition now is really to pacify the mind of the States. It can be done through our women.