n to believe she loves me,"--Koltsoff shrugged his
shoulders,--"excellent reasons. As to marriage--of course I have no
doubt as to her wishes. But first, I must, of course, reach an
understanding with you."

"How do you mean?" asked Mr. Wellington, bending forward and impaling
the Prince with his eyes. "Did Anne tell you how much she would be
willing to have me pay for you?"

"Certainly not," snapped Koltsoff.

"Well, then, listen, Prince Koltsoff. You are here now as our guest
and we hope to make your sojourn quite pleasant. But," he took a cigar
from a box, lighted it, and thrust the box across the table to
Koltsoff. "But we might as well have a clear understanding. It will
be better in every way. I have felt that Americans have been
altogether too willing to subscribe to European customs in marrying off
their daughters. I am going to establish a new precedent, if I can.
Am I clear?"

"What do you mean?" Koltsoff's voice quivered with rising indignation.
Mrs. Wellington could not have analyzed her emotions had she tried.
All she could do was to sit and watch the tottering of the structure
she had reared, under the blows of one who had never before interfered
in her plans, but whose word was her law.

"I mean that I am unwilling to pay a single red penny for you, or any
one else to marry my daughter. If she 's worth anything, she's worth
everything. I 'll inform you, however, that she has some money in her
own right--not enough to rehabilitate a run-down European estate, but
enough to keep the wolf from the door, and, of course, when I get
through with it, she 'll share in my estate, which is not
inconsiderable."

"But Prince Koltsoff is a man of wealth," said Mrs. Wellington quietly.
"He is not of the broken-down sort."

"Oh, I know all about that," said her husband. "All the more reason
why this precedent I am trying to establish should find favor in his
eyes."

The Prince rose.

"I understand you to say that you refuse the dower rights which any
European must, of course, expect?"

"You do, absolutely. If Anne loves you and wants to marry you, that is
her right. She is of age. But no dower. Not a cent."

"And you _love_ your daughter!" Koltsoff's voice was withering.

Mr. Wellington arose quickly.

"That," he said, "we won't discuss."

"Very well," Koltsoff's voice arose almost to a shriek. "But listen, I
do love Anne Wellington and I think she loves me. And with dower or
witho