[...]... for my people!'" 232 239 CHAPTER I PRINCE SANSEVERO DIMINISHES THE FORTUNES OF HIS HOUSE Her excellency the Princess Sansevero sat up in bed Reaching quickly across the great width of mattress, she pulled the bell-rope twice, then, shivering, slid back under the warmth of the covers She drew them close up over her shoulders, so far that only a heavy mass of golden hair remained visible above the old... used to the chill of unheated rooms "I think I can heat the bathroom sufficiently for Excellency's bath," ventured the maid The princess shivered at the mere suggestion She knew only too well the feeling of the water in a room that was like an unheated cellar in the rainy season of late autumn "No, no!" she exclaimed, "fill me the little tub, in my sitting-room." "AS SHE SPOKE, A DOOR OPENED OPPOSITE... and creamy skin of its wearer that an artist, could he have beheld the picture, would have been filled with delight It would not in the least have mattered to him that there was a chip in the cup into which she poured her coffee, nor that the linen napkin was darned in three places The silver breakfast service belonged to a time when such things were chiseled only for great personages and by master craftsmen... be in the face of a woman of thirty-five She smoothed the vertical lines in her forehead, and then let her hands remain over her face, while behind their cool smoothness her mind resumed its troublesome thoughts It was not like meeting some new difficulty for which the strength is fresh; it was struggling again with emotions that have repeatedly exhausted one's endurance Just as she had every hope... Sandro! where will it end?" The maid knocked and entered with two pails of hot water, which she poured into the tub She spread a bath towel over a chair, moved another chair near, put out various articles of clothing, and left the room again The princess threw off her slippers, and tried the temperature of the water with her toes "I think, Sandro, we had better give up Rome," she said "The money saved for... brocade of which the counterpane was made The room was still darkened so that the objects in it were barely discernible, but presently one of the high, carved doors opened and a maid entered, carrying a breakfast tray Setting the tray down, she crossed quickly to the windows and drew back the curtains Sunlight flooded the black and white marble of the floor, and brought out in sharp detail the splendor of. .. slippers pattered briskly over the stone floor as she went to a clothes-press, carved and beautifully inlaid, took out a drab-colored woolen wrapper trimmed with common red fox fur, and, picking up the tray again, mounted the dais of the huge carved bed "If Excellency will make haste, the coffee is good and very hot." The covers were pushed down just a little, and the princess peered out "What sort of. .. dear, we do have to be careful." But the prince stared moodily at his finger-nails She began a new topic cheerfully "I hope to get a letter from Nina to-day; there has been time for an answer." Sansevero had been quite interested in the idea of a possible visit from Nina Randolph, his wife's niece, a much exploited American heiress But now he paid no attention He still stared at his nails The princess... in the tone Then, as though gathering her strength together, she made a direct demand: "Alessandro, tell me at once, what have you done?" For a moment he looked defiant, then shrugged his shoulders "Well, since you will know——" he sprang from the bed, pulled a letter out of his pocket, and, quite as a small boy hands over the note that his teacher has caught him passing in school, he tossed her the envelope,... three or four months Now in order to open the palace in Rome, they had to practise the most rigid economics the other eight or nine months in their villa in the country Yet in spite of all, her compassion went out to Sandro He was so gay, so boy-like, that he acquired ascendancy over her sympathies in spite of her judgment And by the time her maid had coiled her great golden waves of hair and helped . or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www .gutenberg. org Title: The Title Market Author: Emily Post Illustrator: J. H. Gardner Soper Release. bath," ventured the maid. The princess shivered at the mere suggestion. She knew only too well the feeling of the water in a room that was like an unheated cellar in the rainy season of late autumn in bed. Reaching quickly across the great width of mattress, she pulled the bell-rope twice, then, shivering, slid back under the warmth of the covers. She drew them close up over her shoulders,