I am sorry to have troubled you." "It would have been a pleasure indeed," replied the count.

He stood secure within his fortress, so secure that he would have liked to laugh.
"It is too bad," said the king, pulling his thoughts together.
"Your Majesty is giving the matter too much importance," said the diplomat.

"It was merely a whim.

I shall have the pleasure and honor of presenting my successor this evening." The count bent low, while the king nodded absently.

He was thinking that a penful of ink, carelessly trailed over a sheet of paper, had lost him his throne.