The Duchess raised her eyebrows.

"But a Prince of Japan, my dear Penelope!" she said. "A cousin of
the Emperor, and a member of an aristocracy which was old before
we were thought of! Surely you cannot class Prince Maiyo amongst
those to whom any of your country people could take exception."

Penelope shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"Perhaps," she said, "my feeling is the result of hearing you all
praise him so much and so often. Besides, apart from that, you
must remember that I am a patriotic daughter of the Stars and
Stripes, and there isn't much friendship lost between Washington
and Tokio just now."

The Duchess turned away to greet a man who had paused before
their couch on his way into the restaurant.

"My dear General," she said, "it seems to me that one meets every
one here! Why was not restaurant dining the vogue when I was a
girl!"

General Sherrif smiled. He was tall and thin, with grizzled hair
and worn features. Notwithstanding his civilian's clothes, there
was no possibility of mistaking him anywhere, or under any
circumstances, for anything but a soldier.

"It is a delightful custom," he admitted. "It keeps one always on
the _qui vive_; one never knows whom one may see. Incidentally, I
find it interferes very much with my digestion."