A few evenings after this I met the princess in the queen's
drawing-room. She beckoned me to her, and, resting her elbows on the
top of a cabinet, her chin in her hands, said: "I met your friend,
Captain Brandon, a day or two ago. Did he tell you?"
"No," I answered; "Jane told me, but he has not mentioned it."
It was true Brandon had not said a word of the matter, and I had not
spoken of it, either. I wanted to see how long he would remain silent
concerning an adventure that would have set most men of the court
boasting at a great rate. To have a tilt with the ever-victorious
Mary, and to come off victor, was enough, I think, to loosen any
tongue less given to bragging than Brandon's.
"So," continued Mary, evidently somewhat piqued, "he did not think his
presentation to me a thing worth mentioning? We had a little
passage-at-arms, and, to tell you the truth, I came off second best,
and had to acknowledge it, too. Now, what do you think of this new
friend of yours? And he did not boast about having the better of me?
After all, there is more virtue in his silence than I at first
thought.
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