"I cannot quite hope to make you understand, but if I took for my wife a Chinese lady of unequal mundane rank, I should commit a serious offence against those who watch me from the other side of the grave, and to whom I am accountable for every action of my life.

A lady of another country is a different matter." "But I am an Englishwoman," Maggie said, "and I love my country.

You know what that means." "I know very well," he admitted.

"I had not meant to speak of those things until later, but, for your country's sake, what greater alliance could you seek to-day than to become the wife of him who is destined to be the Ruler of Asia ?" Maggie caught hold of her courage.

She looked into his eyes unflinchingly, though she felt the hot colour rise into her cheeks.
"You did not speak to me of these things, Prince Shan, when I came to your house last night," she reminded him.
His smile was full of composure.