"You are thinking of the apartment de luxe," said the Prince, with a smile; "of the special train. But, do you not see, those are the very things which make me poor. I have no use for seven rooms; in the special train, I can occupy but a single seat. All the rest is waste, which does me no good--rather the reverse, indeed, since it serves to impress people with an exaggerated idea of my importance and so pave the way for fresh extravagances. I did not mean that I am poor absolutely; I do not suppose that I shall ever want for food and clothing and a place to sleep. It is only as a Prince that I am poor--that we Markelds are all poor." "But one would think there were many things worth while which a man in your position could do," said Susie, earnestly, "even if you aren't rich." "Oh," he explained, looking down at her with a laugh in his eyes, "I would not have you think that I am always wholly idle. I am colonel of a dragoon regiment, and I inspect it, sometimes, or ride in front of it at a general review. I hunt. I attend various functions of the court. I even sometimes act as the representative of my house, as I am doing now." "None of which," said Susie, "except perhaps the last, is in the least worth while." "I agree with you, unreservedly," he assented; "but it is about what most men in my position do." "So I have heard," said Sue, "but I never really believed it. I thought it an invention of the society reporters." "It is true, nevertheless. You see there is no incentive, for most of us, to do anything else. Of course, we cannot work, nor engage in trade." "I don't admit the 'of course.' But leaving that aside for the moment, aren't there any exceptions?" "Yes--a few at whom the rest of us look rather askance. You see, there is the tradition to be maintained." "The tradition?" "Of royalty--of divine right. We must do nothing to spoil the tradition, or weaken it, or our people may find out that we are not really necessary, after all, just as the Americans have done." Susie glanced at him to see if he was in earnest; but he appeared to be entirely so. "Do the exceptions mind being looked askance at?" she questioned. "No, I do not think they mind in the least. Most of them are too busy to pay any heed to what other people are thinking about them. Besides, the cause of the exception is usually a woman, who takes up most of the exception's leisure time." "I'm afraid I don't quite understand."