the diamonds," cried the Prince,
jerking the box from his pocket and flinging it on the table.

"There!" shouted old man Briggs, bringing his clenched fist down on the
oak. "What did I tell you? I knew it all along. The Prince stole the
diamonds, and in his excitement yanks them out of his pocket and proves
it. That was _my_ opinion all along!"

"Oh, father, father!" moaned the Princess, speaking for the first time.
"How can you say such a thing? My husband couldn't do a mean action if
he tried. The idea of him stealing the diamonds! Not if they were worth
a thousand millions and detection impossible."

The Prince, who had been glaring at Mr. Briggs, and who seemed on the
point of giving that red-faced gentleman a bit of his mind, turned a
softened gaze upon his wife, who rested her arms on the table and buried
her face in them.

"Come, come," cried Miss Jennie Baxter, stepping energetically forward;
"I imagine everybody has had enough of this. Clear out, Mr. Briggs, and
take Mr. Taylor with you; I am sure he has not had any breakfast yet,
and he certainly looks hungry. If you hire detectives, Mr. Briggs, you
must take care of them. Out you go. The dining-room is ever so much more
inviting just now than the library; and if you don't see what you want,
ring for it."

She drove the two speechless men out before her, and, closing the door,
said to the Prince, who was still standing bewildered at having his hand
forced in this manner,--

"There! Two fools from four leaves two. Now, my dears--I'm not going to
Highness either of you--you are simply two lone people who like
each other immensely, yet who are drifting apart through foolish
misunderstandings that a few words would put right if either of you had
sense enough to speak them, which you haven't, and that's why I'm here
to speak them for you. Now, madame, I am ready to swear that the Prince
has never said anything to me that did not show his deep love for you,
and if you had overheard us, you would not need me to tell you so. He
thinks that you have a fancy for that idiot von Schaumberg--not that I
ever saw the poor man; but he is bound to be an idiot, or the Prince
wouldn't be jealous of him. As nobody has stolen the diamonds after all
this fuss, so no one has stolen the affection of either of you from the
other. I can see by the way you look at each other that I won't need to
apologize for leaving you alone together while I run upstairs to pack."

"Oh, but y