"And it is so important that I should find something to do. At first I answered advertisements in my real name, and received my photograph back by the next post. This, and the anger of my family, decided me to drop the title altogether. But I had always resolved that if I did find a place I would confess to my employer. It is a terrible thing to be very poor," she added, staring straight before her with eyes growing dim at her remembrances. "Yes," said Anna, under her breath. "To have nothing, nothing at all, and to be burdened at the same time by one's birth." "Oh," murmured Anna, with a little catch in her voice. "And to be dependent on people who only wish that you were safely out of the way--dead." "Married," whispered Anna. "Why, what do you know about it?" said the princess, turning quickly to her; for she had been thinking aloud rather than addressing anyone. "I know everything about it," said Anna; and in a rush of bad but eager German she told her of those old days when even the sweeping of crossings had seemed better than living on relations, and how since then all her heart had been filled with pity for the type of poverty called genteel, and how now that she was well off she was going to help women who were in the same sad situation in which she had been. Her eyes were wet when she finished. She had spoken with extraordinary enthusiasm, a fresh wave of passionate sympathy with such lives passing over her; and not until she had done did she remember that she had never before seen this lady, and that she was saying things to her that she had not as yet said to the most intimate of her friends. She felt suddenly uncomfortable; her eyelashes quivered and drooped, and she blushed. The princess contemplated her curiously. "I congratulate you," she said, laying her hand lightly for a moment on Anna's. "The idea and the good intentions will have been yours, whatever the result may be." This was not very encouraging as a response to an outburst. "I have told you more than I tell most people," Anna said, looking up shamefacedly, "because you have had much the same experiences that I have." "Except the uncle at the end. He makes such a difference. May I ask if many of the ladies answered _both_ advertisements?" "No, they did not." "Not one?" "Not one." The princess thought that working for one's bread was distinctly preferable to taking Anna's charity; but then she was of an unusually sturdy and independent nature. "I can assure you," she said after a short silence, "that I would do my best to look after your house and your--your friends and yourself."