'
'You have perhaps cause,' he replied. 'Perhaps I am the only one
among your friends - '
'O, leave my friends alone,' she interrupted. 'My friends are of a
different stamp. You have come to me here and made a parade of
sentiment. When have I last seen you? I have governed your kingdom
for you in the meanwhile, and there I got no help. At last, when I
am weary with a man's work, and you are weary of your playthings,
you return to make me a scene of conjugal reproaches - the grocer
and his wife! The positions are too much reversed; and you should
understand, at least, that I cannot at the same time do your work of
government and behave myself like a little girl. Scandal is the
atmosphere in which we live, we princes; it is what a prince should
know. You play an odious part. Do you believe this rumour?'
'Madam, should I be here?' said Otto.
'It is what I want to know!' she cried, the tempest of her scorn
increasing. 'Suppose you did - I say, suppose you did believe it?'
'I should make it my business to suppose the contrary,' he answered.
'I thought so. O, you are made of baseness!' said she.
'Madam,' he cried, roused at last, 'enough of this. You wilfully
misunderstand my attitude; you outwear my patience. In the name of
your parents, in my own name, I summon you to be more circumspect.'
'Is this a request, MONSIEUR MON MARI?' she demanded.
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