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THE STRAND MAGAZINE. 
mother incident was — unfortunate — but I 
liked him — because he showed no shame/’ 
“ There was no shame, Prince Heinrich.” 
“ No — not to us — but to small minds, yes. 
He will go far, your general. That is, if he 
has the chance.” 
Lady Mildred Testing smiled. 
“ Men make their own chances, sir,” she said. 
li Yes — and no, Lady Mildred. Other 
things count. In this case there are obstacles. 
An alliance with a woman of birth would 
bridge them. But his mother prevents that.” 
“ I think not, sir.” 
The Prince started ; there was in the voice 
of his companion a timbre that made him 
stare. Lady Mildred looked him full in the 
face. The Prince, very courteously, averted 
his eyes. But he thought much and he said 
little, and he rejoiced, because it seemed to 
him that a brave man was going to have help 
in his career. And they walked on, now in 
silence, till they came back to where the Duke 
and their hostess stood. With them was Sir 
John Dixon, in his frock-coat and service cap 
with its oak-leaves showing golden above the 
peak. He was upstanding, dignified, virile, 
and distinguished, and Lady Mildred Testing’s 
heart beat fast. 
“ You are late, Sir John,” the com- 
mandant’s wife was saving. 
“ Yes, 1 was— I ” 
He stopped. The Duke finished what the 
general would leave unsaid. 
“ He was at the hospital, looking after his 
driver, flow is lie, Sir John ? I hope he is 
doing well ? ” 
“ Excellently, sir — excellently. A slight 
concussion — a twisted knee. He will be about 
again in a few days ! ” 
The Duke nodded ; for the minute he said 
no more. The commandant’s wife, Prince 
Heinrich, and Lady Mildred were silent. 
Then the Duke gave a little chuckle. Lady 
Mildred glanced at him, and guessed the 
cause. 
“ It may be an indiscretion, general. But 
the news is hardly secret now. I heard last 
night from headquarters that you have 
Omofaga. I congratulate you with all my 
heart. And ” — the Duke turned to Prince 
Heinrich — “ and I think you will agree with 
me that Omofaga’s gain is England’s — 
temporary — loss.” 
££ I think so — but Sir John will come back, 
enriched with experience, to do even better 
work.” 
The Prince put out his hand. Sir John 
Dixon, his lips twitching a little, took it — as 
he had already taken the hand of the Duke. 
Lady Mildred said no word. But her heart 
was proud within her ; for she knew that the 
deed was hers. 
They stood there, talking of Omofaga, of 
the work that Omofaga held. Then suddenly 
Prince Heinrich glanced at Lady Mildred and 
addressed the commandant’s wife. 
“ I should like to see those relics of the 
Prince Imperial,” he said. “ Time is short, 
unfortunately. Will you show them to me 
now ? ” And Prince Heinrich put himself at 
his hostess’s side. The Duke followed with 
the commandant. But Lady Mildred and 
Sir John Dixon stayed. 
“ If we walked ? ” Sir John Dixon said. 
££ By all means,” she answered. And the 
great lady and the governor-designate who 
had been a boy in a Board school went wander- 
ing in the emptying grounds. They talked 
commonplaces ; their speech languished by 
degrees. At last they walked in silence in a 
solitary path. 
“ You had something to say to me,” said 
Lady Mildred, presently. ££ We were to talk 
of something, I think.” 
££ Yes ” — he hesitated. “ But it is — there 
is no need to say it now.” 
£t No need ! ” She spoke lightly, but in her 
a fear quickened. ££ No need ! You arouse 
my curiosity. What were you going to say ? ” 
Again he hesitated. They walked still in 
that shaded, solitary path. 
“ You insist ? ” he said, presently. 
££ Absolutely.” 
££ Well, I was going to say this : I was 
going to ask you — if — if Omofaga was given 
me — if you would care to come to Omofaga, 
too.” 
“ And ” — she glanced up at him — “ and 
now that it is given you — you would not ask, 
after all ! ” 
££ No.” 
“ Why ? ” 
“ Because — I have thought it all over. 
You know my origin — which means so little 
to me that I — generally — forget what it may 
mean to people in your world. To-day my 
mother’s action brought it all home. She is 
my mother — I am proud of her — but — I am 
a man of the people — just that.” 
££ And you think that matters to me ? ” 
“ Yes.” 
Lady Mildred laughed a little, and looked 
up at his face. 
££ You understand men— as few men under- 
stand them,” she answered. But women 
you do not know at all. It is because of your 
mother — because of everything — that 1 am 
coming to Omofaga — to help.” 
