p. I regret that the interview of to-morrow will have to
be postponed till Monday."

"Any time," said I, watching Gretchen whose eyes widened, "will be
agreeable to me."

Gretchen made as though to speak, but the Prince anticipated her.

"It is merely a little discussion, Your Highness," he said, "which Herr
Winthrop and I left unfinished earlier in the evening. Good night."

On the way to the cloak room it kept running through my mind that I had
lost. Thursday?--she said Thursday was the day of her wedding? It
would be an evil day for me.

Pembroke was in the cloak room.

"Going?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well, let us go together. Where shall it be--Egypt or the steppes of
Siberia?"

"Home first," said I; "then we shall decide."

When we got into the carriage we lit cigars. For some reason Pembroke
was less talkative than usual. Suddenly he pulled down the window, and
a gust of snow blew in. Then up went the window again, but the cigar
was gone.

"Has anything gone wrong?" I asked.

"'One more unfortunate. . . . Make no deep scrutiny!'" he quoted.
"Jack, she wouldn't think of it, not for a moment. Perhaps I was a
trifle too soon. Yes, she is a Princess, indeed. As for me, I shall
go back to elephants and tigers; it's safer."

"'The Bridge of Sighs,'" said I. "Let us cross it for good and all."

"And let it now read 'Sighs Abridged.'"

He asked me no questions, and I silently thanked him. Once in our
rooms, he drank a little more brandy than I thought good for one "who
may or may not live the year out." I told him so. He laughed. And
then I laughed. Both of us did it theatrically; it was laughter, but
it was not mirth.

"Cousin," said I, "that's the idea; let us laugh. Love may sit on the
windowsill and shiver to death."

"That fellow Anacreon was a fool," said Pembroke. "If the child of
Venus had been left then and there, what a lot of trouble might have
been averted! What do you say to this proposition; the north, the
bears and the wolves? I've a friend who owns a shooting box a few
miles across the border. There's bears and gray wolves galore. Eh?"

"I must get back to work," said I, but half-heartedly.

"To the devil with your work! Throw it over. You've got money; your
book is gaining you fame. What's a hundred dollars a week to you, and
jumping from one end of the continent to the other with only an hour's
notice?"

"I'll sleep on it."

"Good. I'll go to bed now,