"
"Hmp! I saw them out of the edge of my eyes. And when I turned a corner
I always saw them mighty plain. They couldn't have come very close
without my knowing it."
"Don Manuel is very anxious to have Miss Valdes win, isn't he?"
Dick observed that just below the eyes two spots were burning in the
usually pale cheeks.
"Yes," he answered simply.
"Why?"
"He's her friend and a relative."
It seemed to Gordon that there was a touch of defiance in the eyes that
held to his so steadily. She was going to find out the truth, no matter
what he thought.
"Is that all--nothing more than a friend or a relative?"
The miner's boyish laugh rippled out. "You'd ought to have been a
lawyer, Miss Kate. No, that ain't all Don Manuel doesn't make any secret
of it. I don't know why I should. He wants to be prince consort of the
Valdes kingdom."
"Because of ... the estate?"
"Lord, no! He's one man from the ground up, M. Pesquiera is. In spite of
the estates."
"You mean that he ... loves Valencia Valdes?"
"Sure he does. Manuel doesn't care much who gets the kingdom if he gets
the princess."
"Is she so ... pretty?"
Dick stopped to consider this. "Why, yes, I reckon she is pretty, though
I hadn't thought of it before. You see, pretty ain't just the word.
She's a queen. That is, she looks like a queen ought to but don't.
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