"
The Prince took it, and read the name of Inspector Jacks.
"Well?" he murmured.
"The man asked questions," Soto continued. "We spoke English so
badly that he was puzzled. He went away, but he will come again."
The Prince smiled, and laid his hand almost caressingly upon the
other's shoulder.
"It is of no consequence, Soto," he said,--"no consequence
whatever."
CHAPTER XIV. AN ENGAGEMENT
"Your rooms, Prince, are wonderful," Penelope said to him. "I
knew that you were a man of taste, but I did not know that you
were also a millionaire."
He laughed softly.
"In my country," he answered, "there are no millionaires. The
money which we have, however, we spend, perhaps a little
differently. But, indeed, none of my treasures here have cost me
anything. They have come to me through more generations than I
should care to reckon up. The bronze idol, for instance, upon my
writing case is four hundred years old, to my certain knowledge,
and my tapestries were woven when in this country your walls went
bare."
"What I admire more than anything," the Duchess declared, "is
your beautiful violet tone."
"I am glad," he answered, "that you like my coloring. Some people
have thought it sombre. To me dark colors indoors are restful."
"Everything about the whole place is restful," Penelope
said,--"your servants with their quaint dresses and slippered
feet, your thick carpets, the smell of those strange burning
leaves, and, forgive me if I say so, your closed windows.
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