The prince frowned and coughed, listening to the doctor.

As a man who had seen something of life, and neither a fool nor an invalid, he had no faith in medicine, and in his heart was furious at the whole farce, specially as he was perhaps the only one who fully comprehended the cause of Kitty's illness.

" Conceited blockhead!" he thought, as he listened to the celebrated doctor's chatter about his daughter's symptoms.

The doctor was meantime with difficulty restraining the expression of his contempt for this old gentleman, and with difficulty condescending to the level of his intelligence.