"I wondered," she confessed, "if I were ever to be allowed to see inside your wonderful house."
"It is my misfortune to be compelled to pay so brief a visit to this country," he replied. "As a rule, it gives me great pleasure to open my rooms three evenings and entertain those who care to come and see me."
"I have heard of your entertainments," she said, smiling. "Prima donnas sing. You rob the capitals of Europe to find your music. Then the great Monsieur Auguste is lured from Paris to prepare your supper, and not a lady leaves without some priceless jewel."
"I entertain so seldom," he reminded her. "I fear that the fame of my feasts has been exaggerated."
"When do you leave, Prince?" she asked him.
"Within a few days," he replied.
"I come for your last word," she announced. "All that I have written to Paul Matinsky you know."
"The last word is not yet to be spoken," he said. "This, however, you may tell Matinsky. The scheme of Oscar Immelan has been laid before me. I have rejected it."
"In what other way, then, would you use your power?" she asked.
He made no answer. She watched him with a great and growing curiosity.