Takes like another, but somehow gets
the better of them in the end. There was a word he said to me when he begged for my permission.
I told him his plan was a mere
dream. He answered he would dream it true; he will."
"You should have waked him. You were the master, he the servant. You were the King." "And
when can the King do what he wills instead
of what he must? Maria,
if you and I had met before I sent Charles Wogan to search out a wife

for me--" Maria Vittoria knelt up. She drew herself away. "He chose her as your wife?" "If only I had had time to summon him back!" "He chose
her--Charles Wogan. How I hate him!" "I sent him to make the choice." "And he might have gone no step beyond Bologna. There was I not a mile distant ready to his
hand! But I was too mean, too despicable--" "Maria, hush!" And the troubled voice in which he spoke rang

with so much pain that she was at once
contrite with remorse. "My lord, I hurt you, so
you see how I am proven mean. Give me your hand and laugh to me; laugh with your heart and eyes and lips. I a m jealous of your pain. I am a woman. I would have it all, gather it all into my bosom, and cherish each sharp stab like a
flower my lover gives to me. I am glad of
them. They are flowers that will not wither. Add a kiss, sweetheart, the sharpest stab, and so the chief flower, the very rose of flowers. There, that is well," and she rose