"By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the space of a minute before another word was spoken.
"Blithers!" exclaimed Dank, sinking back into his chair.
"Blithers," repeated Totten, but with an entirely different inflection. The word was conviction itself as he pronounced it.
R. Schmidt indulged in a wry little smile. "It amounts to nearly twenty million dollars, Count. That's a great deal of money to spend in the pursuit of an idle whim."
"Humph!" grunted the old Count, and then favoured the sunny-faced Prince with a singularly sharp glance. "Of course, you understand his game?"
"Perfectly. It's as clear as day. He intends to be the crown father-in-law. I suppose he will expect Graustark to establish an Order of Royal Grandfathers."
"It may prove to be no jest, Robin," said the Count seriously.
"My dear Quinnox, don't look so sad," cried the Prince. "He may have money enough to buy Graustark but he hasn't enough to buy grandchildren that won't grow, you know. He is counting chickens before they're hatched, which isn't a good business principle, I'd have you to know."
"What was it he said to you at Red Roof?"
"That was nothing. Pure bluster."
"He said he had never set his heart on anything that he didn't get in the end, wasn't that it?"
"I think so. Something of the sort. I took it as a joke."
"Well, I took it as a threat."
"A threat?"
"A pleasant, agreeable threat, of course. He has set his heart on having the crown of Graustark worn by a Blithers. That is the long and short of it."
"I believe he did say to me in the woods that day that he could put his daughter on any throne in Europe if he set his mind to the job," said the Prince carelessly. "But you see, the old gentleman
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