"But that would be a disgrace!"
"Disgrace! It isn't half so disgraceful as to live by the work of other men."
"Your father said something of the same sort to me. But I fear that neither of you understands. A Prince cannot do such things."
Kasia threw up her hands.
"So we come back to the beginning of the circle!" she cried.
"Besides, my father would not permit it," added the Prince.
"Aren't you of age?"
"Yes—but he is the head of the family. He would have me brought home—from the end of the world, if necessary—and then I should be confined. Even my elder brother is sometimes confined—separated from his wife, from his children, permitted to see no one."
"Poor Prince!" said Kasia. "So you are a slave, like the rest of us—rather worse than the rest of us, indeed! Is there nothing you can do?"
"Very few things," said the Prince, beginning really to pity himself. "You see, there is always my family to consider—nothing must be done to injure its position or to make it less popular. Even my father very often may not say what he thinks or do what he wishes."