ILLUSTRATIONS

“‘We of Italy,’ he was saying, ’live, endure, die, if need
be—­always for the same reason—­women and love!’”
Page 65 Frontispiece

“AS SHE SPOKE, A DOOR OPENED OPPOSITE, AND THE PRINCE CAME
IN” Facing page 4

“FOR THE SPACE OF A SECOND SHE FACED THE AUDIENCE, STANDING
STILL AND RIGID” 134

“NINA LOOKED AT HIM—­’I WONDER IF YOU WOULD BE AMUSED IF
YOU KNEW WHY I LAUGHED’” 184

“HIS LIPS FRAMED ‘GOOD-BY’ AND HERS ANSWERED, BOTH SMILED
BRIGHTLY—­AND THAT WAS THE PARTING” 232

“’YOU ARE AMERICANO, ARE YOU NOT?  YOUR LAND HAS DONE MUCH
FOR MY PEOPLE!’” 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 crimson 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 the apartment.  The rich colors of the frescoed walls, the mellow crimson damask upholstering, might have suggested warmth and comfort, had not a little cloud of white vapor floating before the maid’s lips proclaimed the temperature.

She was a stocky peasant woman, this maid, with good red color in her cheeks, but she wore a dress of heavy woolen material and a cardigan jacket over that.  Her thick felt 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 a day have we, Marie?  Isn’t it very cold?”

“Oh, no!  It is a beautiful day.  But Excellency will say that the coffee is cold unless it is soon taken.”