"Is it true that you have brought me here to meet him; that we have been waiting for him to come; that some one has sent him my photograph and that he----Oh, it is unbearable!" She broke off and snatched at the offending paper, that she might once more sear her vision with its triangular allusions. "You oughtn't to read such tittle-tattle!" said her mother. "Why can't you leave the papers alone?" It was nothing much in itself, the usual coinage of the society journalist intelligently anticipating events. It pointed with sleek pleasantry to the fact that the Prince of Schnapps-Wasser, returning to his inheritance after long exile, would find greeting awaiting him from a royal house which had apparently been very anxious to make his acquaintance. Then followed an account of the visit and prolonged sojourn at Bad-as-Bad of the royal family of Jingalo; the beauty of the Princess was spoken of, her accomplishments, her exploits in climbing and walking; it was rumored that even in South America her photograph had been seen and admired. It was known that the Prince had arrived unexpectedly at his port of departure, and finding a boat on the point of sailing had gone on board. Was it the knowledge that only till a certain date----? The rest we need not set down here. As though it would help her to blot out the record with its attendant circumstances, Princess Charlotte tore the paper into little pieces. "My dear, don't be so violent!" said the Queen. "I have been brought here so that he may come and look at me!" cried the Princess, white with wrath. The Queen took up her knitting. "Nothing of the sort; you were brought here to be with us and to be kept out of mischief." "Why are we staying a fortnight longer than we intended to?" "I don't know what you mean by 'we'; I intended to stay till your father had completed his cure. This year it has taken longer." "It hasn't! He is putting on weight again; only yesterday he told me so. You can't get more cured when that has begun, because it means that you are acclimatized." "It's no use your talking as if you were a medical authority, my dear, and offering your advice, for we shan't take it." Charlotte opened her mouth and bottled a breath before she next spoke. "Who sent him my photograph?" "Gracious me, child, anybody can get your photograph. Isn't it in all the shop-windows?" "Not in South America." "Oh, yes; they are getting quite civilized over there now." Charlotte struck at a venture. "_You_ sent it; you know you did! Yes, and then he sent you that thing of himself."