The kiss he bestowed upon the delighted Candace
was tender in the extreme. Then, putting her aside;
he strode over and gallantly kissed the hand of
Graustark's princess, beaming an ecstatic smile upon
the merry Beverly an instant later.
" Welcome, Prince Dantan," said yetive= ** A
thousand times welcome."

" AU Graustark is your throne, most glorious
Yetive. That is why I have asked to be presented here
and not in the royal hall below," said Ravone.
" You will wait here with us, then, to hear the good
news from our warden," said the princess, " Send
the courier to me," she commanded. *' Such sweet
aews should be received in the place which is dearest
to me in all Graustark."

The ministers and the lords and ladies of the castle
328



THE CAPTURE OF GABRIEL

were assembled in the room when Baron Dangloss
appeared with the courier from the prison. Count
Marlanx was missing. He was on his way to the
fortress, a crushed, furious, impotent old man. In
his quarters he was to sit and wait for the blow that
he knew could not be averted. In feax and despair,
hiding his pain and his shame, he was racking his
brain for means to lessen the force of that blow. He
could withdraw the charges against Baldos, but he
could not soften the words he had said and written
of Beverly Calhoun. He was not troubling himself
with fear because of the adventures in the chapel and
passage. He knew too well how Yetive could punish
when her heart was bitter against an evil-doer.
Graustark honored and protected its women.
