voice:

"She was that forcible-looking, a man couldn't say when he got close, she
kind of dazzled him. She had black hair, and a white face, and--and--
witch's eyes, but she was very kind and overpowering, haughty and
generous. Any one would have known she was a Queen."

"Young?" asked Sir Charles.

Tompson smoothed his chin: "I could not say, Sir Charles. Some days about
twenty-five, and other days past thirty. About thirty-three to thirty-five,
I expect she was, if the truth were known."

"Pretty?"

The eyes rounded more and more. "Well, she was so fascinatin', I can't say,
Sir Charles--the most lovely lady I ever did see at times, Sir Charles."

"Humph," said Paul's father, and then relapsed into silence.

"She'd a beast of a husband; he might have been a King, but he was no
gentleman," Tompson ventured to add presently, fearing the "Humph" perhaps
meant disapprobation of this splendid Queen. "Her servants were close, and
did not speak good English, so I could not get much out of them, but the
man Vasili, who came the last days, did say in a funny lingo, which I had
to guess at, as how he expected he should have to kill him some time.
Vasili had a scar on his face as long as your finger that he'd got
defending the Queen from her husband's brutality, when he was the worse for
drink, only last year. And Mr. Verdayne is so handsome. It is no wonder,
Sir Charles--"