You ought to have guessed that it isn't
etiquette to inquire about the size of a German Dukedom.'
'I am sure,' said Dimmock, with a polite smile, 'that the Grand
Duke is as much amused as anyone at the size of his territory. I
forget the exact acreage, but I remember that once Prince Aribert
and myself walked across it and back again in a single day.'
'Then the Grand Duke cannot travel very far within his own
dominions? You may say that the sun does set on his empire?'
'It does,' said Dimmock.
'Unless the weather is cloudy,' Nella put in. 'Is the Grand Duke
content always to stay at home?'
'On the contrary, he is a great traveller, much more so than Prince
Aribert.
I may tell you, what no one knows at present, outside this hotel,
that his Royal Highness the Grand Duke, with a small suite, will be
here to-morrow.'
'In London?' asked Nella.
'Yes.'
'In this hotel?'
'Yes.'
'Oh! How lovely!'
'That is why your humble servant is here to-night - a sort of
advance guard.'
'But I understood,' Racksole said, 'that you were - er - attached to
Prince Aribert, the uncle.'
'I am. Prince Aribert will also be here. The Grand Duke and the
Prince have business about important investments connected with
the Grand Duke's marriage settlement. . . . In the highest quarters,
you understand.'
'For so discreet a person,' thought Racksole, 'you are fairly
communicative.
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