"Well, many things have happened since yesterday. We are now dealing
with to-day, and with the Princess von Steinheimer."

"She is a German princess, of course?"

"An Austrian princess, but an American woman. She was a Miss Briggs of
Chicago; a daughter of Briggs, the railway millionaire, worth somewhere
between twenty and twenty-five millions--dollars, of course. A year or
two ago she married Prince Konrad von Steinheimer; you may remember
having read about it in the papers?"

"Oh, yes; the usual international match--the girl after the title, he
after the money."

"I suppose so; but be that as it may, she is the only daughter of old
Briggs, and had spent a good deal of her time in Europe, but she spent
more than time; she spent the old man's money as well, so during her
stay in Europe she accumulated a vast stock of diamonds, some of them
very notable stones. I don't know what the whole collection is worth,
some say a million dollars, while others say double that amount. However
that may be, Miss Briggs became the Princess von Steinheimer, and
brought to Austria with her a million dollars in gold and the diamonds,
which her father gave as dowry; but, of course, being an only child, she
will come in for the rest of his money when the railway magnate dies."

"Is he likely to die soon? I don't suppose the Prince gave himself away
for a mere million."

"Oh, you forget the diamonds. As to the likelihood of old Briggs's