woman at the same time. I
have a heart, a head. I breathe and eat and drink and sleep and love. Is
it not that way with other women?"

"You breathe and eat and drink and sleep and love in a different world,
though, your Highness."

"Ach! my little maid, Therese, sleeps as soundly, eats as heartily and
loves as warmly as I, so a fig for your argument."

"You may breathe the same air, but would you love the same man that your
maid might love?"

"Is a man the only excuse for love?" she asked. "If so, then I must say
that I breathe and eat and drink and sleep--and that is all."

"Pardon me, but some day you will find that love is a man, and"--here he
laughed--"you will neither breathe, nor eat, nor sleep except with him
in your heart. Even a princess is not proof against a man."

"Is a man proof against a princess?" she asked, as she leaned against
the casement.

"It depends on the"--he paused "the princess, I should say."

"Alas! There is one more fresh responsibility acquired. It seems to me
that everything depends on the princess," she said, merrily.

"Not entirely," he said, quickly. "A great deal--a very great
deal--depends on circumstances. For instance, when you were Miss
Guggenslocker it wouldn't have been necessary for the man to be a
prince, you know."

"But I was Miss Guggenslocker because a man was unnecessary," she said,
so gravely that he smiled. "I was without a title because it was more
womanly than to be a 'freak,' as I should have been had every man, woman
and child looked upon me as a princess. I did not travel through your
land for the purpose of exhibiting myself, but to learn and unlearn."

"I remember it cost you a certain coin to learn one thing," he observed.

"It was money well spent, as subsequent events have proved. I shall
never regret the spending of that half gavvo. Was it not the means of
bringing you to Edelweiss?"

"Well, it was largely responsible, but I am inclined to believe that a
certain desire on my part would have found a way without the assistance
of the coin. You don't know how persistent an American can be."

"Would you have persisted had you known I was a princess?" she asked.

"Well, I can hardly tell about that, but you must remember I didn't know
who or what you were."

"Would you have come to Graustark had you known I was its princess?"

"I'll admit I came because you were Miss Guggenslocker."

"A mere woman."

"I will not consent to the word 'mere.' Wh