"I shall not now."
She turned to the prince.
"Your Highness, I think it needless to argue further," she said. "We
have no choice in the matter; there is only one course--destroy the
compact."
"No!" was the curt answer.
"I believe I know Mr. Grimm better than you do," she argued. "You think
he will weaken; I know he will not. I am not arguing for him, nor for
myself; I am arguing against the frightful loss that will come here in
this room if the compact is not destroyed."
[Illustration: "You think he will weaken; I know he will not."]
"It's absurd to let one man stand in the way," declared the prince
angrily.
"It might not be an impertinent question, your Highness," commented Mr.
Grimm, "for me to ask how you are going to _prevent_ one man standing in
the way?"
A quick change came over Miss Thorne's face. The eyes hardened, the lips
were set, and lines Mr. Grimm had never seen appeared about the mouth.
Here, in a flash, the cloak of dissimulation was cast aside, and the
woman stood forth, this keen, brilliant, determined woman who did
things.
"The compact will be destroyed," she said.
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