Remember he introduced you to the
Prince."
"Yes, that's so. I had forgotten. I shall never say anything against
him again."
"You like the Prince, then?"
"Of all the crowned heads, emperors, kings, sultans, monarchs of every
description, dukes, counts, earls, marquises, whom I have met, and who
have pestered my life asking me to share their royal perquisites, I
think I may say quite truthfully that I like this Jack Lamont better
than any one of them."
"Surely Prince Jack has not offered you his principality already?"
"No, not yet, but with an eye to the future I have persuaded him to
give up Tolstoi and read Mark Twain, who is not only equally humorous,
but much more sensible than the Russian writer. Jack must not be
allowed to give away his estates to the peasants as his silly sister
has done. I may need them later on."
"Oh, you've got that far, have you?"
"I have got that far: he hasn't. He doesn't know anything about it,
but I'll wake him up when the right time comes. There are many
elements of sanity about him. He told me that he intended to give up
his estates, but in the first place he had been too busy, and in the
second he needed the money. His good sense, however, requires
refining, so that he may get rid of the dross. I don't blame him; I
blame Tolstoi. For instance, when I asked him if he had patented his
liquid city invention, he said he did not wish to make a profit from
his discovery, but intended it for the good of humanity at large.
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