The old prince was very affectionate and careful in his treatment of his daughter that morning.

Princess Mary well knew this painstaking expression of her father's.

His face wore that expression when his dry hands clenched with vexation at her not understanding a sum in arithmetic, when rising from his chair he would walk away from her, repeating in a low voice the same words several times over.

He came to the point at once, treating her ceremoniously.

"I have had a proposition made me concerning you," he said with an unnatural smile.