She was naturally very much upset over her loss, and sent at once for the Prince, her husband, insisting that the police should be notified immediately and detectives called in, as was perfectly natural.

Now here comes a strange feature of the affair, and this is that the Prince positively forbade any publicity, refusing his sanction when she demanded that the police should be informed, and yet the Prince knew better than anyone else the very considerable value of the stones." "What reason did he give for his refusal ?" asked Miss Baxter, looking up from her notes.
"I am not quite certain about that; but I think he said it was _infra dig._ for the Steinheimers to call in the police.

Anyhow, it was an excuse which did not satisfy the Princess; but as guests were arriving, and as it was desirable that there should be no commotion to mar the occasion, the Princess temporarily yielded to the wish of her husband, and nothing was said publicly about the robbery.

The great ball was the talk of Meran for several days, and no one suspected the private trouble that was going on underneath this notable event.

During these several days the Princess insisted that the aid of the police should be invoked, and the Prince was equally strenuous that nothing should be said or done about the matter.