He nodded and kept on at the eye-glasses. At last they seemed to suit him, and he shoved them into place and lit another cigarette.
"It seems to me," he said, at length, "the matter is wholly one of personal inclination; with no obligation upon you to decide it upon any other basis. Therefore, the first question is simply this: Which do you prefer to be—an American officer and citizen or a Valerian Archduke?"
"That is just what I don't know," said I.
"Well, would it be any easier to answer if I were to add: 'With a chance for the Crown'?"
"That complicates it even more, I think."
He looked at me hard for a moment. I knew he was thinking of the Princess and I shook my bead.
"Better look at it only on the first proposition," he said: "'an American officer or an Archduke.'"
"If I accept," said I, "I shall play for all the stakes."
"Of course," said he, "but you may lose."
"It is more than likely I shall."