Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/73

 delighted. You know—it never fails. They placed their money at my disposition

. How much of it have you left?

. Not a sou, I assure you; I lost it all. The Princess—it was then that she turned out to be a princess—persisted in sliding her bare arm around my shoulder. I confess that I was nervous. I pressed my foot against hers beneath the table

. But what did she do?

. It wasn't she, it was the old lady. As soon as I recovered sufficiently, I laubched my proposal—your proposal—and the Baroness, whose title I forget, broke loose with a torrent of the most villainous abuse, in the course of which I discovered who the distinguished lady was, whom we had misjudged so lightly.

. But what did she do?

. I cannot say that she seemed offended. She stood up and laughed.

. Encouragement to continue. Who is this Princess? Not Princess Helena of Suavia, who eloped with her husband's secretary?

. Yes, and she is here with him now, waiting until the Emperor consents to a divorce.

. A divorce? What does she want of a divorce? Not to marry the secretary? It is unworthy of her. I am attracted to that Princess. I might take up the adventure myself at the point where you left off. A princess is deserving of some attention.

. Funds are running low. I understand that the happy couple are negotiating a loan, regardless of cost. The Emperor is starving them out—siege and famine. The Prince Consort announces that he will no longer be responsible for the debts of his wife, the other relatives withhold