O sir, do not take from me my last help, which is to honour you!"
"Listen to me, Princess," said I, stepping close and standing over
her. "What do you suppose that I meant by using those words?
They were your own words, remember."
"That is better. It will help us both if we are frank--only do not
treat me as a child. You heard what my brother said. Yes, and
doubtless you have heard other things to my shame? Answer me."
"If your brother chose to utter slanders--"
"Yes, yes; it was easy to catch him by the throat. That is how one
man treats another who calls a woman vile in her presence. It does
not mean that he disbelieves, and therefore it is worthless; but a
gallant man will act so, almost without a second thought, and because
it is _dans les formes_." She paused. "I learned that phrase in
Brussels, cavalier."
I made no answer.
"In Brussels, cavalier," she repeated, "where it was often in the
mouths of very vile persons. You have heard, perhaps, that we--that
my brother and I--lived our childhood in Brussels?"
I bent my head, without answering; but still she persisted.
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