Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 9, 1895 - Romances Volume II

MY LADY'S CHAMBER
petty stabs become unbearable. But Gondremark
was a man of iron ; he showed nothing ; he did not
even, like the common trickster, retreat because
he had presumed, but held to his point bravely.
' Madam,' he said, ' if, as you say, he prove exacting,
we must take the bull by the horns.'
'We shall see/ she said, and she arranged her
skirt like one about to rise. Temper, scorn, disgust,
all the more acrid feelings, became her like jewels ;
and she now looked her best.
' Pray God they quarrel,' thought Gondremark.
'The damned minx may fail me yet, unless they
quarrel. It is time to let him in. Zz — fight, dogs ! '
Consequent on these reflections, he bent a stiff knee
and chivalrously kissed the Princess's hand. 'My
Princess,' he said, 'must now dismiss her servant.
I have much to arrange against the hour of council.'
' Go,' she said, and rose.
And as Gondremark tripped out of a private door,
she touched a bell, and gave the order to admit the
Prince.
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