Her Royal Lover: A Novel — page 256: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

248 | HER ROYAL LOVER: tensions to superiority, she was compelled to men- tally confess to herself that she was but lke other women, made of flesh and bone and also of weak- ness. The time appeared enormously long to the empress, waiting over-excited her. The prince imperial was at last announced, his face was perturbed, agi- tated. On seeing him thus, he ordinarily so calm, so phlegmatic, the empress divined that something extraordinary had happened. “Goodness, Fritz! what have you totell me? You appear very much disturbed.” “T am so, indeed, your majesty.” The empress trembled. “Has some misfortune happened? Is Agusta suffering ?” Her grandmother’s heart, twice a mother for herself and for the absent, had no other thought than that her granddaughter was ill; while thus speaking she arose to run to the assistance of her child. But the prince imperial restrained her by a ges- ture. “J entreat your majesty to be pleased to listen to me! 199 “That is what I desire; but speak, speak quickly, I conjure you! Do you not see upon what burning coals you keep me?” Notwithstadning this peremptory order, the prince imperial was silent. It seemed that the communi- cation which he had to make to the empress was be- yond his strength. “My God! how uneasy you make me!” gaid her majesty. “But, I repeat to you, tell me quickly — ‘very quickly—that which eet you here.” Eomichbooks:.co m