Quentin, during the remainder of the run to Brussels, turned the new
situation over and over in his mind. That the prince was ready to
acknowledge him as a dangerous rival gave him much satisfaction and
inspired the hope that Miss Garrison had given her lover some cause
for alarm. The decisive movement on the part of Prince Ugo to
forestall any advantage he might acquire while near her in Brussels
was a surprise and something of a shock to him. It was an admission,
despite his position and the pledge he had from the girl herself,
that the Italian did not feel secure in the premises, and was
willing to resort to trickery, if not villainy, to circumvent the
American who knew him in other days. Phil felt positive that the
move against him was the result of deliberate intent, else how
should his fair friend of the early evening know that a plot was
brewing? Unquestionably she had heard or learned of the prince's
directions to the duke. Her own interest in the prince was, of
course, the inspiration. To no one but herself could she entrust the
delivery of the warning. Her agitated wish, openly expressed, that
Quentin might win the contest had a much deeper meaning than would
appear on the surface.

From the moment he received the warning the affair began to take on
a new aspect. Aside from the primal fact that he was desperately in
love with Dorothy Garrison, there was now the fresh incentive that
he must needs win her against uncertain odds and in the face of
surprising opposition. In this day and age of the world, in affairs
of the heart, an American does not look for rivalry that bears the
suggestion of medieval romance. The situation savored too much of
the story-books that are born of the days when knights held sway, to
appeal natural in the eyes of an up-to-date, unromantic gentleman