"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.
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