"Never!" cried she proudly. "I am no chattel to be bartered, and this
miserable title of princess has no charms for me. You can command me,
father, to renounce the man I love, but you can never compel me to
give my hand to a man I do not love, were he even a king!"

Her father clasped her vehemently in his arms.

"That is blood of my blood, and spirit of my spirit," cried he. "You
are right, my child, to despise honors and titles; they are empty
tinsel, and no one believes in them any longer. We stand at the portal
of a new era, and this era will erect new palaces and create new
princes; but you, my child, will be one of the first princesses of
this new era. Manufactories will be the new palaces, and manufacturers
the new princes. Instead of the sword, money will rule the world, and
men will bow down before manufacturers and merchants as they are
wont to do before generals. Therefore I say you are right in refusing
Prince Saldem's offer, for I promise you, you shall be a princess,
even without the title, and the great and noble shall bow as low
before your riches as if they were a ducal diadem."

Elise shook her head with a melancholy smile: "I have no desire for
such homage, and I despise the base metal with which you can buy
everything."

"Despise it not!" cried her father, "prize it rather! Gold is a holy
power; it is the magic wand of Moses which caused springs to gush
forth from the sterile rock. See, my child--I, who despise all the
rank and honors which the world can offer me, I tell you gold is the
only thing for which I have any respect. But a man must perceive and