"But you would have to wait till your thief was off his guard. Well, that is pretty much the position that England is in, as I understand it. Prince Ferdinand is our friend, but we've got to wait till the man with the pistol makes a false move. We're doing the best we can--and in the meantime, Prince Ferdinand's misguided friends are calling us hard names." "But," inquired Susie, "who is the man with the pistol? He must be a pretty big fellow to be able to hold you prisoner, and yet I must confess that I'm like Prince Ferdinand--I can't perceive him, either." Lord Vernon hesitated a moment. "I'm afraid, Miss Rushford," he said, slowly, at last, "that I can't tell you, just yet. I'd like to, but if I did, I'd have all these diplomatic sharps down on me in short order. I thought maybe you could guess." "Oh, don't apologise!" cried Susie. "I hadn't any right to ask. Though," she added, regretfully, "I'm not at all good at guessing." Lord Vernon smiled as he looked at her. "I don't think we'll have any more trouble," he said. "Markeld and I have called a truce for a week, and by that time--" He paused again, evidently on the verge of another indiscretion. Chance saved him the necessity of going on, for at that moment a tall, military figure loomed ahead, approached, hesitated, stopped, and uncovered. "I hope I see you better this morning, Lord Vernon," said a pleasant voice. "Why, yes, thank you, Your Highness," answered Vernon, colouring a little. "I feel much better. Let me introduce to you Miss Rushford," he added, catching the other's admiring glance and interpreting it aright. "Miss Rushford, this is the Prince of Markeld." CHAPTER XI The Prince Gains an Ally So it presently came to pass that Susie Rushford found herself walking on with the Prince of Markeld, while Nell took her place beside the invalid's chair. Five minutes later, Vernon had revised his judgment and decided that Nell was far the handsomer--she had the air, somehow, which one associates with duchesses, but which, alas! is, in reality, so seldom theirs. She was just a little regal, just a little awe-inspiring, so that to win a smile impressed one as, in a way, an achievement. Vernon had won several before they had been long together, and felt his heart growing strangely, deliciously warm within him. As to Sue--if we may pause to analyse her feelings--she, too, had been for the first moment impressed. The Prince was so visibly a Highness; every line of him expressed it, not consciously, but inevitably, from the blood out. So, after a glance or two, she walked along beside him rather humbly and very silent, not in the least as the proverbial American girl should have done! Then she stole another glance at him and saw that he was twisting his moustache in evident perplexity. "You may have perceived," he said, at last, with that slight formality of utterance which Sue thought very taking, "that I was most desirous of meeting you, Miss Rushford."