"Yes, they kept back my dress."
"This is odious! Though you are not to be pitied when arrayed in such a choice China silk; with flower work applied; now, had you applied to me in your quandary, as I hope you will in the future, I would have sent you the dress my daughter had made for her presence here—it is so like this, that I could vow it is the same."
Countess Dubarry seized both his hands, beginning to understand who was the enchanter who had saved her from the embarrassment.
"I suppose it was in your daughter's coach that I was brought here?" she said.
"Oh, I should know hers, for it was renovated for this occasion with white satin; but there was no time to paint her blazon upon the panels——"
"Only time to paint a rose! Duke, you are a delightful nobleman."
The old peer kissed the hands, of which he made a warm and perfumed mask. Feeling them thrill, he started and asked the cause.
"Who is that man yonder, in a Prussian officer's dress, with black eyes and expressive countenance, by Prince Guemenee?"
"Some superior officer whom the king of Prussia sends to honor your presentation."
"Do not laugh, duke; but that man was in France three or four years ago, and I have been seeking for him everywhere without avail."