She _had_ taken it into her head "to look the place
over before definitely refusing to be its Princess!" His first thrill
of exultation gave way to a sickening sense of disappointment.
All this time she was regarding him through amused, half-closed eyes.
She had a distinct advantage over him. She knew that he was the
Prince of Graustark; she had known it for many days. Perhaps if she
had known all the things that were in his cunning brain, she would
not have ventured so far into the comedy she was constructing. She
would have hesitated--aye, she might have changed her methods
completely. But she was in the mood to do and say daring things. She
considered her position absolutely secure, and so she could afford to
enjoy herself for the time being. There would be an hour of
reckoning, no doubt, but she was not troubled by its promise of
castigation.
"Poor Prince!" she sighed pityingly. He started. The remark was so
unexpected that he almost betrayed himself. It seemed profoundly
personal. "He will be in very hot water, I fear.
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