The Empress sighed.
“It was so foolish to send you in my place. I thought it would not matter. Well, it is done now! It’s no use regretting it. Though always, in my life, I seem to have so many things that I regret. We can only hope that the Emperor will never hear of this. He would be both shocked and hurt.”
“I don’t think that Lord Quenby – will communicate with the Emperor,” Gisela said.
“I hope you are right,” the Empress replied. “Let’s hope that he forgets about me too and that he does not speak of my visit to many other people. And now it only remains, child, to ask you to forget it too. Will you promise me to erase from your mind all thought of what happened these past two days?”
“I will try,” Gisela said.
She took the Empress’s hand in hers and then knelt down beside the couc
