But this is not the love-story of a new Derry and another Nancy; so it may be taken for granted that twenty-four and nineteen were suffering the approved pangs, and were given every opportunity to develop the recognized symptoms. Our real concern lies with a man of middle age, around whom these minor happenings revolved like comets around the sun--itself ever fleeting into stellar depths. Not that Power felt any resemblance to a star of magnitude at that time. Though he never doubted that he was again at the mercy of irresistible forces, dragging him he knew not whither, the simile that presented itself to his mind was that of a log being swept over a cataract. Despite his brave promise to the weeping girl, he had no plan, no hope of successful intervention. He caught at one straw as the swirling current gripped him. This Italian prince might be a very excellent fellow, and the soldier a bit of knave; then it would be his bounden duty to exhort Nancy to filial obedience, that time-honored principle productive of so much good and so great evils. "What is Mr. Lindsay's address?" he inquired. She told him. "And is there any real need for present anxiety? You are far too young to think of marriage." "Father says my mother was wed at twenty. He got rather angry when I retorted that she died at twenty-four. But the real trouble is that that horrid Giovanni Montecastello is pressing for an engagement. Father spoke of it this morning. No wonder I am in such a rebellious mood!" "Does Mr. Marten know Lindsay?" "Yes. He regards him merely as one of the thousand nice young men one meets in London society." "He is not aware of his attachment for you?" She raised her hands in horror. Clearly, Hugh Marten was master in his own household. His daughter might be the apple of his eye; but he brooked no interference with his perfected schemes, even from her. "At any rate," persisted Power, "he will not compel you to accept Prince Montecastello tomorrow, or next day. Can't you hold out until, say, your twentieth birthday?" "This morning I promised to decide within a month." "And what did he say?" "He smiled, and remarked that I chose my words carelessly. Evidently I meant 'accept' when I said 'decide.'" "Well, then, we have a month. Great things can be achieved in that time. Fortresses which have taken ten years to build have fallen in a day. So be of good cheer. I begin the attack at once." "Will you please tell me what you intend doing?" "Firstly, I must see my army, which is composed of one man, Philip Lindsay. Secondly, we must call on the citadel to surrender. Your father is not aware that Mr. Lindsay may be his prospective son-in-law. He must be enlightened." "There will be an awful row," declared Nancy, unconsciously reverting to the slang of a dismayed schoolgirl. "The capture of a stronghold is usually accompanied by noise and clamor. What matter, so long as it yields?" "And afterward?"