Moreover, his most devoted friend, the Prince, whose lips were sullenly closed after his unlucky maiden effort, was finding it exceedingly difficult to hold his tongue and his tears at the same time.

The lad's lip trembled but his brown eyes glowered; he sat abashed and heard the no uncertain arraignment of his dearest friend, feeling all the while that the manly thing for him to do would be to go over and kick the Duke of Perse, miserably conscious that such an act was impossible.

His little body trembled with childish rage; he never took his gaze from the face of the gaunt traducer.

How he hated the Duke of Perse! The Duke's impassioned plea was of no avail.

His _confreres_ saw the wisdom of keeping Russia's greedy hand out of the country's affairs--at least for the present--and reiterated their decision to seek the loans in England and France.