"Well," said the son, "let me interpret it then into prose. Monarchy as an institution is dying, and it can either die in foolish decrepitude, or it can die mightily, merging itself in democracy for a final blow against bureaucratic government. All that is written in my book. That is why I am now able to express myself so well: these periods are largely a matter of quotation. The right role for monarchy to-day is, believe me, to be above all things democratic--not by truckling to the ideas of the people in power--the 'ruling classes' as they still call themselves--but by daring to be human and natural, and to refuse absolutely to be dehumanized on the score of its high dignity and calling. "If, for instance, I came to you to-day and said I wanted to marry one of my own nation--say even a commoner--in preference to the daughter of some foreign princeling, let me do it! It breaks with a foolish tradition--largely our own importation when, as foreigners, we were seeking to keep up our prestige--it may annoy or even embarrass the Government. Well! have they not annoyed and embarrassed you?" The King nodded sympathetically, but in words hastened to correct himself. "One has often to make sacrifices in defense of an institution," he said. "That is a duty we both owe." "Why," inquired the Prince, "should I make sacrifices to an institution I do not really approve? Why should I pretend to love some foreign princess if I have given my heart to one--I cannot say of my own race--for I remember that we are an importation--but of the country of my adoption? Do you really suppose that because it annoys the Prime Minister and disturbs his political calculations, an alliance within those artificially prohibited degrees imposed on royalty will lessen the influence of the Crown by a straw's weight, or quicken its demise by an hour? This country, like all civilized countries, is moving towards some form of republican government. If we are sufficiently human, if we show ourselves determined to call our souls our own--it is not merely possible, it is probable, that when the change comes we shall be called on by popular acclaim to provide the country with its first President. If we did we could secure for that presidency a greater power and prestige than any bureaucratic government would willingly concede. It may be that the real counter-stroke to the present increase of Cabinet control can most effectively be administered by a monarch who is not too careful to preserve the outward forms of monarchy. When that is done, by you, or by me, or by one who comes after us, I am confident that there will be the sound of a people's rejoicing." "You have strange ideas," said the King, "for one who calls himself a monarchist." "I am a republican," said the young man. The King stared at him as though at some strange animal. "You don't say so!" he murmured half aghast. "Supposing the Prime Minister were to find out."