“Count Mortimer is as yet scarcely in a position that would entitle him to ask for an interview,” was the reply, “and in view of the propaganda he is carrying on, I must decline to receive him in audience. My Chancellor would no doubt be interested in his plans if he cared to impart them to him. I can quite believe that you have the fullest belief in your uncle,” this as Usk was digesting the snub as best he might, “but it is merely another proof of his astuteness. If you have any regard for his safety, you might warn him that to persist in his present course will be dangerous in the extreme. He is too much of a firebrand to be left at large in Europe, and if I feel this, what must be the sensations of those whose policy he is deliberately opposing? He will do well to bury himself in the desert again as soon as possible. This morning I should have advised him also to give up all hope of the ambitious alliance he has devised for you, but provided that you and your father refuse to allow yourselves to be drawn into his schemes----” the Emperor paused. “Oh, you are going to be kind? You will take our part?” gasped Helene. “Certainly not. I cannot bestow my approval on such marriages as this, but in the circumstance, and especially if Count Mortimer leaves Europe immediately, I will not oppose it.” “The Princess Helene and I are most grateful to you, sir,” said Usk, wondering that Helene did not speak. But as the Emperor rose to meet her mother, who had heard of his arrival and come to look for him, she pressed her lover’s arm. “You do believe that I love you, Nym? Even if we have to part, you will never let anything keep you from believing that?” and her face was pale and anxious again. “Why, of course not!” said Usk. “But what should part us now?” It happened that Queen Ernestine was spending the morning at the Schloss, and when the Grand-Duchess brought in the Emperor she was unable to escape, much to her disgust. The Emperor was very glad to meet her, and anxious to talk to her about King Michael’s marriage, but he was careful only to allude to Cyril as if he were still a trusted minister of state. The Queen had far too much _savoir faire_ to expose herself to such a rebuff as Usk had incurred, but it was gall and wormwood to her that her husband’s existence should be thus pointedly ignored. Her cousin had played a prominent part in bringing about her unhappy first marriage, and this still rankled in her mind, so that the time seemed interminable to her which she spent in answering his questions and receiving his suggestions. The Emperor departed after lunch, and she returned quickly to Luisenruh, where Cyril came out to greet her with a smile. “Well, Ernestine, so you have had a visitor? The excursions and alarms penetrated even to my quiet retreat here. Was he in a good temper?”