y tourists. Besides this letter I am
giving you one of official authority, for there is always some
formality. If you should need any financial aid, do not hesitate to
call upon me.

La Principessa di Monte Bianca.

"A villa!" exclaimed Kitty rapturously. So many villas had she seen,
guarded by Lombardy poplars or cypresses, that her mind hungered to live
in one, if never so shortly.

"And the villa of a princess!" sighed O'Mally. "Fudge! I'm a patriot,
all right, but may I be hanged if I shouldn't like to meet a princess,
the real article, just once. What do you say, Smith?"

"Sure! It would be something to brag about. 'When I was in Florence my
friend, the Princess di Whadeyuhcallit, said to me,' and so forth.
Sounds good. But it's an idle dream, Tom, an idle dream."

"Will you permit me to read the letter?" asked Worth.

La Signorina consented. Worth had an idea; it was as yet nebulous;
still, it was a shrewd idea, and needed only a small space to stand. The
moment he saw the letter the nebulous idea became opaque. The page was
neatly typewritten in Italian, and only the signature was in ink. It was
a small, slanting, aristocratic signature.

"Do you read Italian?" she asked with pardonable malice.

"Very little, and nothing on this page." Worth felt embarrassed under
her glance. Still he continued to stare at the letter. The crest on the
paper, the postmark on the envelope, convinced him of its authenticity.
The date was quite recent, and did not correspond with their unhappy
sojourn in the Imperial City.

"The question is, shall we accept this offer?" She refolded the letter.
"This was the plan I had in mind when we went to Monte Carlo, and a much
better plan, too."

"Of course, we shall accept it," said Worth, confident that the mystery
was still there, but that for the present he had been fooled.

"But what's the matter with your playing the princess to the neighbors?"
suggested O'Mally, his eyes laughing. "I'll be the concierge, Smith the
steward, and Kitty your maid."

"And I?" asked Worth.

"Oh, you can be her Highness' private secretary and attend to the
correspondence."

The laughter which followed this was light-hearted and careless. Once
more worry had taken to wing and they were without burdens. Only La
Signorina did not join the merriment. The sparks in her eyes, the silver
points of light, the flash of excitement, portended something. She rose
with a determined air.