f
they are ready to accept him so thoroughly they will surely not think of
interfering in such a personal matter as his marriage."

"But they are thinking of it," said Stampoff doggedly. "That is why you
are here now with me. I felt that I must warn you of the trouble ahead.
Alec, I admit, would be an ideal King in an ideal State; but he has
failed absolutely to appreciate the racial prejudices that exist here.
They are the growth of centuries; they cannot be uprooted merely because
a King is in love with an eminently desirable young woman. Among the ten
millions of our people, Princess, there are hardly ten thousand who have
any settled notions of government, whether good or bad, and those ten
thousand think they have a prior right to control the destinies of the
remainder of the nation. With the exception of a few of the younger
officers, there is not a man among the governing class who doesn't
harbor more or less resentment against your son. He is putting down with
a ruthless hand the petty corruption on which they thrived, and at the
same time reducing their recognized salaries. In season and out of
season he preaches the duties of good citizenship, but these men have
too long been considering self to yield without a struggle the positions
attained under a less scrupulous regime.

"I speak of what I know when I tell you that, placid and contented as
Delgratz looks, it is really a seething volcano of hate and discontent.
Repressed for the hour, kept in check, perhaps, by the undoubted loyalty
of the masses, it is ready to spout devastating fire and ashes at the
least provocation, and that will be found in a marriage which seems to
shut out all hope of realizing the long looked-for joining of Montenegro
and Kosnovia. I have a bitter acquaintance with our history, madame, and
am persuaded that if Alec is to remain King he must abandon forever this
notion of marrying an alien. The Greek church would oppose it tooth and
nail, and the people would soon follow the lead of their Popes. This
young lady's appearance in Delgratz has come at a singularly inopportune
moment. She was brought here by some one hostile to your son. If she
came in obedience to Alec's wishes, he is his own worst enemy."

The distressed Princess could hardly falter a question in response to
Stampoff's vehement outburst. "Why do you tell me these things?" she
said brokenly. "I--I dare not interfere, even though I approved of what
you say, which I do n