"It WILL," said she. " You have taken me from poverty, and
given me rank, wealth, and a proud place in the world: let it be my
work to keep the peace which God has permitted me to establish
between you and your father!"

The change in the old Prince, in fact, was more radical than any
one who knew his former ways of life would have considered
possible. He stormed and swore occasionally, flourished his whip
to some purpose, and rode home from the chase, not outside of a
brandy cask, as once, but with too much of its contents inside of
him: but these mild excesses were comparative virtues. His
accesses of blind rage seemed to be at an end. A powerful,
unaccustomed feeling of content subdued his strong nature, and left
its impress on his voice and features. He joked and sang with his
"children," but not with the wild recklessness of the days of
reisaks and indiscriminate floggings. Both his exactions and his
favors diminished in quantity. Week after week passed by, and
there was no sign of any return to his savage courses.

Nothing annoyed him so much as a reference to his former way of
life, in the presence of the Princess Helena. If her gentle,
questioning eyes happened to rest on him at such times, something
very like a blush rose into his face, and the babbler was silenced
with a terribly significant look. It was enough for her to say,
when he threatened an act of cruelty and injustice, "Father, is
that right?" He confusedly retracted his orders, rather than bear
the sorrow of her face.

The promise of another event added to his happiness: Helena would