She toyed with it a moment, and then said softly: "You have
changed, Rupert. Do ye no ken hoo?"
I looked at her--as surprised at her dialect as at the imputation.
"You don't talk that way, as you did. And you don't say, 'It WILL
be twelve o'clock,' when you mean, 'It IS twelve o'clock,' nor 'I
will be going out,' when you mean 'I AM.' And you didn't say, 'Eh,
sirs!' or 'Eh, mon,' to any of the Court--nor 'Hoot awa!' nor any
of those things. And," she added with a divine little pout, "you
haven't told me I was 'sonsie' or 'bonnie' once."
I could with difficulty restrain myself. Rage, indignation, and
jealousy filled my heart almost to bursting. I understood it all;
that rascally Scotchman had made the most of his time, and dared to
get ahead of me! I did not mind being taken for the King, but to
be confounded with this infernal descendant of a gamekeeper--was
too much! Yet with a superhuman effort I remained calm--and even
smiled.
"You are not well?" said the Princess earnestly. "I thought you
were taking too much of the Strasbourg pie at supper! And you are
not going, surely--so soon?" she added, as I rose.
"I must go at once," I said. "I have forgotten some important
business at Bock."
"Not boar hunting again?" she said poutingly.
"No, I'm hunting a red dear," I said with that playful subtlety
which would make her take it as a personal compliment, though I was
only thinking of that impostor, and longing to get at him, as I
bowed and withdrew.
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