I quite forgot, sir." "Just _tell_ me--don't lecture." For three-quarters of an hour they wandered through the spacious grounds, never drawing closer to the Castle than permitted by the restrictions; always coming up to the broad driveway which marked the border line, never passing it.

The gorgeous beauty of this historic old park, so full of traditions and the lore of centuries, wrought strange fancies and bold inclinations in the head of the audacious visitor.

He felt the bonds of restraint; he resented the irksome chains of convention; he murmured against the laws that said he should not step across the granite road into the cool forbidden world beyond--the world of kings.

Hobbs knew he was doomed to have rebellion on his hands before long; he could see it coming.
"When we've seen the royal stables, we'll have seen everything of any consequence," he hastened to say.

"Then we'll leave by the upper gates and--" "Hobbs, this is all very beautiful and very grand and very slow," said King, stopping to lean against the moss-covered wall that encircled the park within a park: the grounds adjoining the grotto.