You are just the person I have been looking for." "You didn't seem to think so yesterday, Mr.Hardwick," said the girl with a sly glance at him.
"Well, many things have happened since yesterday.

We are now dealing with to-day, and with the Princess von Steinheimer." "She is a German princess, of course ?" "An Austrian princess, but an American woman.

She was a Miss Briggs of Chicago; a daughter of Briggs, the railway millionaire, worth somewhere between twenty and twenty-five millions--dollars, of course.

A year or two ago she married Prince Konrad von Steinheimer; you may remember having read about it in the papers ?" "Oh, yes; the usual international match--the girl after the title, he after the money." "I suppose so; but be that as it may, she is the only daughter of old Briggs, and had spent a good deal of her time in Europe, but she spent more than time; she spent the old man's money as well, so during her stay in Europe she accumulated a vast stock of diamonds, some of them very notable stones.

I don't know what the whole collection is worth, some say a million dollars, while others say double that amount.