Page:Roy Norton--The unknown Mr Kent.djvu/189

 "I mean that the only way in which affairs can be straightened out is to at once counteract every- thing this fellow Kent has done, and if I had my way he would be taken out and shot before the day is over."

At his callous indifference to either justice or life, she gasped, and eyed him with a wide stare. Provarsk wondered if, in overlooking the complexities of a woman's mind, he had not made a mistake; but he was still daring to hope to turn the situation to his own advantage. "If I am to be an actual chancellor, " he began suavely, but was cut short by the princess.

"Which, no matter what happens, you are not to be, and so of course is all useless to talk about! You would have Mr. Kent shot! You! Why, the worst blunders he ever made are sure to be better than the best things you have ever done. You have told what you would do if you had your way. Well, I'll tell you what I would have done if I had mine! I'd have you booted into the street and through the Market Place. Kent? Whatever else Mr. Kent is, he is a man. No matter if he has made mistakes, and is a money lender, and all that, he is still a real man and unafraid. Who are you, to talk about having him shot?"

She faced her brother as if her last contemptuous gibe at Provarsk had been her final one for him, and saw that her brother's eyes were [185]