Wasn't it quite dreadful? Ah, yes, but very romantic! added the little Countess, to whom intrigue and scandal were as the breath of her nostrils.
The conversation now became general, and of course the favourite topic under discussion was the Imperial visit of yesterday to Petropavlovsk. Ivor found himself in constant requisition, and his ingenuity not a little put to the test in replying vaguely yet satisfactorily to the eager questions poured upon him.
All interest in the reunion had, however, flown for him directly he heard the cause of Olga Naundorff's non-appearance, and he managed as soon as possible to make his adieux to the Countess.
"Ah," said that little lady, lifting her eyebrows in mock despair. "So we are to lose you already! We cannot offer you a sufficient attraction, mon cher, to keep you in the absence of the Court favourite. Let me warn you again, Count Mellikoff is not a man to be trifled with."
"Nor am I," answered Ivor, incautiously; whereat the Countess Vera laughed.
"Ma foi," she said, "if you carry matters with so high a hand we shall have even a more dramatic esclandre than the Stevan Lallovich affair. By the way, Ivor, what news is afloat concerning Count Vladimir, and his search for the missing woman? Oh, yes, you see it is no secret to me, the reason of his departure là-bas."
With which vague and descriptive term and a gesture equally disdainful, the Countess indicated the broad continent of America. To her intelligence and imagination, it was but a land of semi-barbarians and savages, where existence was not worth the price of her smallest luxury.
Tolskoi replied with a little bow.
"Ah, Countess," he said, "who can hope to keep any secret from you, and indeed who would wish to do so? I believe Count Mellikoff is fully satisfied with his advance so far; it remains only for the Chancellerie to express an equal approbation."
Then he bent over the Countess's hand, and with a passing compliment, made his devoirs and left her. She stood for a moment looking after him thoughtfully.