"Then, it's up to you to teach him—and the quickest method is to win the Princess. Marry her and you get the Crown for a bridal present."
"It may be the surest method; I doubt if it's the quickest," said I.
"Well, of course, my dear fellow," he said banteringly, "you know the lady better than I do."
"I doubt it," said I, "for I think I don't know her even a little bit."
"Good—you are gathering wisdom rapidly; indeed, you are growing almost over-wise."
"I have often wondered how you got your amazing knowledge of women," I observed.
He lit a cigarette and sent a cloud of smoke between us. "It was born in me, I think. At any rate, I've proved it—by letting them alone. Yet," he went on musingly, "were I a Royal Duke and cousin to the Princess of Valeria, I am not so sure—no, I am not so sure."
I looked at him a bit curiously. Surely, it could not be that Courtney—the indifferent—the blasé—envied me; that he would care to be other than he was; or that even a beautiful woman could stir his blood. Then the cloud began to thin out, and he must have noticed my surprise, for he laughed and waved his hand before his face.
"I'm like the fellow in the song," said he, "I've been 'seeing pictures in the smoke.'"
"And you liked the pictures?" I asked.