"You! Then you are——"
"Yes, Jean, a traitor to the man you call Duke."
The dwarf shrank back with a little cry.
"I quarrel not with your faith," Christine went on. "You are honest, and I, a Princess in Montvilliers, a Princess of that house which this Roger Herrick would depose, am honest too. Your faithfulness is a danger to us, so great a danger that some in the castle have suggested that the greatest safety lies in your death. That is why I sent for you. You are my prisoner, Jean, and shall be tenderly treated. When I am mistress of Montvilliers you shall have your freedom, and I will ask you for your loyalty."
"Ah, mademoiselle, that I, the poor fool, should have to call you traitor," said the dwarf as two soldiers came at Christine's summons.
"Soon I hope to hear you welcome me as Duchess, for such in my own right I shall be," she answered.
Jean stood between the two soldiers bewildered. They laid their hands gently on his shoulders. He was a prisoner.
"Let it be known that he is to be gently treated," said Christine. "The man who does not obey me implicitly in this matter shall surely suffer for it."
"I am to be petted like a spoiled child," said Jean sharply, looking up first into one soldier's face, then into the face of the other.
"Taken care of, Jean, as a foolish man," said Christine.